


Time Is Running Out

by ekrolo2



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Action/Adventure, Dragon Ball GT - Freeform, Dragon Ball Z - Freeform, F/M, Gen, IN SPACE!, No Romance, Post-Anime
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-04-02
Packaged: 2018-03-14 00:14:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3401351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ekrolo2/pseuds/ekrolo2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After 5 years away from his loved ones, Goku returns along with his apprentice Uub to reconnect with them all when a wish caused by the old and decrepit Emperor Pilaf leaves him in the worst state of his life. With Earth and its greatest hero running out of time, a team is sent out to collect the Black Star Dragon Balls before its too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Collateral Damage

**Author's Note:**

> Now as some of you may be wondering what with the recent developments in Battle of Gods and the soon to be released Fukatsu No F if I will include any material from either of those stories. I will not at least for the time being. 
> 
> As far as I'm concerned, GT is canon to the anime but the new films overseen by Toriyama are canon to the manga with both things being mutually exclusive entities from each other. While I may introduce characters or forms of those later on, I've no intention of doing so until at least the first half with the Black Star Dragon Ball hunt is done. 
> 
> I will also be including some anime only elements such as Gregory, some villains (NOT BROLY) who've only appeared in specials or films and some techniques. 
> 
> With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the story and my attempt at improving GT.

* * *

**Otherworld**  
  
"Hey boss."  
  
"Yes Gregory?"  
  
"Why'd you let those two train here-"  
  
The entire planet shakes once more as the two combatants flying nearby crash into one another, sending shock-waves throughout the surrounding area. In response to this, the frightened trio of King Kai, Bubbles and Gregory all hide under the table of the Kai's meager home to protect themselves of the battle going on outside. The planet shakes once more with cracks beginning to appear all over the place.  
  
"Why Gregory?" Another shock-wave rocks the planet. "Because I was dumb enough to let them train here in the first place!"  
Flying high above them are the ones responsible for the present situation befalling King Kai, the Saiyan warrior Goku, presently in his Super Saiyan form and his human apprentice Uub.  
  
The two float near one another, completely enthralled in the fight as they exchange punches and kicks enough power to level entire worlds. Their movements being so fast none but the mightiest warriors in the universe could follow, let alone intercept. Precisely what both Uub and Goku are doing as if it were as natural as breathing to them.  
  
But like any stalemate, a victor emerges with Goku this time gaining the edge as his punch manages to connect, leaving Uub open for a split second, one that Goku uses to headbutt his apprentice before kicking him downward with enough force to send him flying towards the small planet. He recovers quickly enough to land properly on the planet with his feet causing a quarter of it to shatter upon impact.  
  
"My planet!" Yells King Kai upon seeing this after peeking out of his window to inspect what happened in a mix of shock and anger. "Why do you two have to destroy everything?!"  
  
Uub ignores him and raises his head to see Goku charging towards him at his current forms top speed. He lets out a sigh before focusing his energies without raising his guard, in no time his master reaches him and yells before attempting to punch him in the face. Uub narrowly avoids the attack before driving his knee into Goku's stomach, causing the older warrior to let out a pained gasp before he's blasted away by a point blank Ki attack.  
  
He lets out a few grunts as he rolls on the ground before getting back on his feet and immediately firing a barrage of Ki blasts at Uub. His apprentice responds by placing both his arms in front of him, covering most of his head and upper body before flying towards his master, ignoring the pain of the blasts and quickly closes the gap. Uub attempts to fire another Ki blast at him, but it passes right through Goku and flies off into the distance where it explodes.  
  
"An after image!" Uub realizes though not quickly enough to evade Goku who blasts him right through the planet from behind before using Instant Transmission to appear on the other side and grabs his student in a Nelson Hold with a smirk.  
  
"Ready to give up?" Asks Goku as Uub tries to break free of his hold.  
  
"Not a chance." He replies before yelling as his Ki builds up throughout his body causing a red aura to emanate all around him. He roars with his rising power and declares "Kaio-ken times two!" before it all explodes outward, knock away Goku.  
  
He doesn't give his master time to catch his breath and quickly rams his fist into his stomach repeatedly while saying. "Ka... me..."  
Goku's eyes widen in shock upon hearing this though Uub merely backhands him across the face. "Ha... me...."  
  
Uub punches him a few feet away to lessen the damage of the blast before cupping his hands together, forming a ball of blue Ki in his hands before exclaiming. "Ha!"  
  
His hands shoot outward in Goku's direction as the giant Ki attack flies towards his master. Goku, who's managed to catch his bearings, sees the attack coming at him. Knowing there's little time to create a blast of his own to counter Uub's, he instead shoots out both his hands and manages to block the attack with them, though the beam does not dissipate.  
  
Uub grits his teeth as he tries pouring more of his Ki into the blast to land the winning blow to no avail. His power and Goku's are evenly matched now with neither being able to break the stalemate.  
  
"I was hoping to avoid using this.... but you've left me no choice master..." He thinks before muttering, "Kaio....ken.... times.... three!"  
His energy spikes up once again, this time sending a gargantuan surge of Ki through the Kamehameha beam. Goku's defense shatters under the new found power of the blast, and he quickly finds himself completely consumed by it as it propels him away from the planet.  
  
Uub's arms slump, as he watches his master fly away with his Kaio-ken aura quickly, dissipating, but his victory is short-lived as he can sense his master's power spike up when a yellow explosion occurs. Mere seconds later Goku teleports in front of him, now in his Super Saiyan 2 form, wounded and tired from the battle but smiling regardless.  
  
"Was that good master....?" Asks Uub while wiping the sweat from his forehead.  
  
"It was perfect Uub!" He exclaims while powering down to his base form. "Heck if I wasn't able to go Super Saiyan 2, you probably would've beaten me with an attack like that."  
  
Goku admits with a chuckle before the two of them fly back to King Kai's planet where his smile soon fades, something that does not go unnoticed by Uub.  
  
"Something the matter master?" Asks Uub while Goku gulps in fear as they spot a very ticked off looking King Kai glaring at them. "Oh, that."  
  
"Maybe we could.... slip away-"  
  
"Like hell you will Goku!" Yells King Kai as he telepathically contacts them. "You're not getting out of here before fixing the mess you've made of my planet!"  
  
The two Earth warriors land in front of him as he continues glaring at them with his arms crossed and his foot tapping repeatedly on the ground. Goku smiles nervously and rubs the back of his head while Uub bows at King Kai.  
  
"We're truly sorry for all the damage we've done to your home King Kai," Uub says honestly. "I promise we'll help you fix it any way we can."  
King Kai glances at the teen and sighs. "Its alright Uub, I know you didn't mean to cause any of this."  
  
"So.... we're.... not in trouble....?" Asks Goku nervously with King Kai's antenna shooting upward in rage before he jumps into the air and smacks Goku right in the face. He falls on his back with a loud thud and rubs his cheek. "But... but you accepted Uub's apology-"  
  
King Kai smacks him again. "Uub's not the one who blew a hole right through my planet! Now you're gonna help me rebuild it from scratch or I'll send you straight to hell!"  
  
"But I can't help right now King Kai!" Whimpers Goku expecting another smack from him though none comes.  
"Look, I promised Chi-Chi I'd come back home today after my training exercise with Uub! If I don't she'll annihilate me!"  
  
"I, a Kai ruling this quadrant of the galaxy is threatening to send you to Hell and you're worried about your wife?!" He exclaims angrily with his whole body shaking with barely contained rage. "You better choose wisely right now Goku, what's it gonna be, my wraith or Chi-Chi's?"  
  
Goku gets back on his feet and crosses his hands while staring out into the nothingness surrounding King Kai's planet as he weighs his options. It doesn't take him long.  
  
He quickly places his hand on Uub's shoulder and his fingers on his forehead as he locks on to a Ki signature back on Earth. "Sorry, King Kai, but this one's a no brainer even for me. But I promise I'll make this all up to you soon!"  
  
Before King Kai can do or say anything, the two vanish right in front of him while his eyes merely twitch behind his glasses. He grits his teeth in anger before yelling at the top of his lungs as Gregory and Bubbles look on.  
  
"I'm never letting them train, here again...." King Kai angrily mutters before turning around towards his home to get the repairs underway.

* * *

**Meanwhile, The Lookout**  
  
"Is the coast clear?" Asks the old and tired Emperor Pilaf as he and his associates Mai and Shu hang off the edge of the Lookout while inside their conjoined Pilaf Machines while it's in stealth mode. Mai's is at the top of it and uses its periscope to survey the surrounding area for any signs of either Dende or Popo. The top of the Lookout is seemingly vacant much to their luck.  
  
"We're in luck Emperor Pilaf, there's no one here." She replies while he rubs his chin. "Whats the matter? I thought you'd be happy to hear that."  
  
"Yes... I should be...." He ponders before stating, "Just to be safe we'll keep going in stealth mode, no point in taking any risks when we're so close."  
  
Mai and Shu give each other worried looks over their piloting monitors a fact which does not go unnoticed by Pilaf. "Something the matter?"  
"Its just that.... we thought you'd be more excited sire." Answers Shu.  
  
"Oh, I am, but I've come to realize that my bad temper has gotten the better of me too many times Shu, I don't intend to let it cost us this wish. From now until we're immortal, I'm a machine." He tells them coldly before noticing their hesitation. "Well, don't just stand there you idiots! Get a move on!"  
  
The two let out sighs of relief at his small outburst and proceed to climb up the Lookout until their Pilaf Machine now stands on the edge of its small courtyard. Pilaf smiles as he lays his eyes on the singular building standing opposite end of the structure and begins rubbing his hands together as his Dragon radar beeps at the vicinity of a complete set of Dragon Balls merely there waiting for them to use.  
  
"Immortality, here I come." He says with a pleased tone as his machine makes its way towards the building, his hearts desire finally within his reach. 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Crippling Wish

**Satan City Elementary School**

"Common, common..." Mutters an anxious Pan as she stares at the clock hanging over the chalkboard of her classroom, her eyes focused on every movement of its hand while her teacher is busy solving a math question she couldn't care less about. The instant she sees the hand strike at 3 PM and hears the school bell ring, she leaps out of her chair with a gleeful, "Yes!" before quickly gathering her things at super human speed before flying out of the open window right next to her. Leaving destruction in her wake as her take off sends several of the nearby tables into the air and knocking half of the class on their ass. She manages to hear her teacher and classmates yell at her though she merely chuckles at this.

For today she's seeing her grandpa Goku after a whole year and she's not about to let anyone or anything stop her from getting to his welcome home party at Capsule Corp where Bulma and Chi-chi are throwing him and Uub a welcome home party with all their friends and family invited to partake in the festivities. Then she senses a strong Ki signature nearby and turns her head around to see her dad, Gohan flying towards her with a not too pleased look on his face. She knows all to well why that is.

"Uh oh."

* * *

 

**Capsule Corp HQ**

"So, Kakarot's finally coming back from his little training with that boy." Says Vegeta, presently in his Super Saiyan form, standing opposite of Piccolo in a new and greatly upgraded Capsule Corp Gravity Chamber with dozens of robots firing small laser blasts at them as they spar in 750 times Earths gravity. The Saiyan prince appears before his Namekian sparring partner and throws a flurry of punches and kicks all of which Piccolo manages to block. "I wonder how much his strengths grown after all these years."

"I thought you didn't care about surpassing him anymore." Replies Piccolo before landing a punch on Vegeta's face and sending him on his back, prompting the nearby robots to all fire on him though he effortlessly gets back on his feet and avoids their blasts. They fire on the Namekian next with no effect as he too avoids them quite easily by rolling on the ground before charing at Vegeta with his aura flaring up as he to launches a barrage of attacks at the Saiyan prince.

"Hmph." Grunts Vegeta with a smirk as he intercepts Piccolo's attacks. "I gave up on that fight after watching him take on that little punk Buu, doesn't mean I don't care at all about how strong he's gotten.... or how far that apprentice of his has come."

The nearby robots colors turn red to match the room around them earning the attention of both Z fighters who immediately break their stalemate as the machines start rapid firing all over the room. In response the two resort to using their after images to throw the machines off while they successfully dispatch them to remove their annoyance out of the equation.

"Yeah I'm worried about that kid Uub too. I get Goku's reasoning for it but reincarnating one of the most destructive beings in the universe might be either the best or worst thing he's ever done." He crushes a small robot under his fist before tossing it casually on the ground. "Then again, a lot of people were skeptical about the two of us turning over a new leaf and I'd say Goku ended up being right on both accounts."

"I haven't turned over a new leaf, Namek." Replies Vegeta with his same old cocky tone before dispatching two robots casually with a pair of Ki blasts from his finger tips. "I've merely deemed you, the rest of those weaklings out there and this world worthwhile enough to protect is all." Despite himself, he lets a genuine smirk form on his face as he powers down and thinks  on everything that's happened to him since he first arrived on Earth over 20 years ago. The friends he's made, the woman he was lucky to meet and raise a family with, none of which he would've gotten had he never met Kakarot. The old him would've seen this kind of sentimentality as a weakness, now it was the singular force driving him to improve himself what with him accepting

Piccolo picks up on this and smirks as well before he does lands on the ground as the artificial gravity around them returns to normal. "Whatever you say your highness." He forms his trademark turban and white cape before pressing the hatch button of the ship, causing it to open though he immediately regrets doing this as he finds a very annoyed pair of Chi-Chi and Bulma standing outside, waiting for them both. The two immediately gulp with a dreadful feeling forming in their guts.

"Times like these, I wish Goku taught us Instant Transmission." States Piccolo with Vegeta giving him an affirmative grunt. The two women slowly walk towards them with their hands crossed and the two warriors think they're done for when they see an all to familiar face appear merely a few feet behind them.

"Hey guys!" Shouts a Goku while flashing a friendly smile and waving at them with Uub at his side prompting both Bulma and Chi-chi to immediately spin around and turn all their attention on him.

"Goku!" They say in unison as they rush towards him with equally friendly smiles on their faces and all seems well until he receives a powerful smack to the face from Chi-chi and a kick in the ass by Bulma, both of whom glare at him while cracking their knuckles.

"But.... but... I came on time-" Chi-chi smacks him again.

"The first time I see you after 5 years of doing who knows what and you show up looking like that?!" She yells with Goku examining his appearance and he realizes what she means. His Gi is tattered all over the place from his training from Uub and several bloody scratches and marks cover his visible body with more no doubt hidden underneath his clothing.

"Well I was hoping that Piccolo would-" She smacks him again.

"It's not about the clothes you idiot! It's about the principle!"

"And lets not even get started on the fact you've basically never come around to see any of us!" Interjects an equally angry Bulma. "But I guess since we can't bench press planets we're not worth even worth thinking about.

"Oh common guys!" Whales Goku. "My training with Uub was really important-" Another smack comes from Chi-chi and so the argument goes on with both Vegeta and Piccolo looking on, a part of them wants to go in and help him from their wrath but then they remember how they'll only end up on the receiving end of their fury as well, and all such plans or ideas evaporate away. 

* * *

 

**The Lookout**

"We're almost there, just a bit farther." Says an eager Emperor Pilaf as he controls their Pilaf Machine with his eyes practically glued to the Dragon Radar as he and his minions Mai and Shu carefully travel through the vacant Lookout in search of the fabled Dragon Balls. The silence of the empty and ancient structure is practically haunting to both Mai and Shu  who look at every dark corner of the place as though a demon is going to jump out at them. Not helped by the constant pinging noise coming from the Radar.

"This is starting to remind me of that freaky horror movie I saw a while back." Comments a worried Shu who can see the worst of them all due to both his canine DNA and his advanced age though he tries to make up for it with his deteriorated hearing. He tried to suggest turning on the lights of their machine though the idea was quickly shot down by Pilaf who argued it could give away their position. "How much longer until we get there sire?"

"Soon Shu, soon." Is the only the thing Emperor Pilaf says as The Pilaf Machine slowly descends down a very large chasm with its jet propulsion with the Radars pinging noise growing only louder and louder with each passing moment. It lands on a small platform, probably positioned somewhere near the very bottom of the Lookout with a pair of torches lighting up at their arrival, revealing a large wooden doors placed there to protect the Dragon Balls inside. "We're here."

The trio examine the door and notice a white paper placed in-front of it with a symbol written in purple blood. "I wonder whats that about." Questions Mai while Pilaf ponders at its significance, he stares at it for a moment and then it all comes rushing back to him.

"That's King Piccolo's symbol!" He exclaims while pointing his finger at it as he remembers the giant Namekian who recruited him to procure the Dragon Balls all those years ago before casually casting them aside like useless tools.

"Do... do you think we should still go in there sire?" Asks a very frightened Shu before gulping at the thought of incurring the wrath of that being.

"There's nothing to worry about Shu, King Piccolo was killed by Goku decades ago. This right here is nothing but a hollow warning from a dead backstabbing liar." He immediately rips off the paper from the door and kicks it open, revealing a small pedestal upon which is a set of seven Dragon Balls.

They immediately gawk at the small, orange colored orbs, not believing their eyes as they finally have the fabled wish granters all to themselves. "We better hurry before we screw this up somehow." Says Pilaf with Mai and Shu nodding in agreement as the Machine fires a telekinetic beam from the middle portion which levitates the Dragon Balls off the pedestal. Then Mai notices something about this particular set.

"Sire, these Dragon Balls look... different from the rest."

"What do you mean?"

"Their stars are black sire, aren't they usually supposed to be red?" She questions while Pilaf takes a closer look at them.

"Yes, you're right. They do seem to be a bit different from the ones we've seen before. Still, as long as we get our immortality it won't really matter." Commanding his Machine once more, Pilaf and his minions make their way back to the outside of the Lookout so they can summon Shenron without causing the whole place to fall all around them. 

* * *

 

**Capsule Corp HQ**

"Grandpa!" Exclaims Pan as she and her father reach the site of the party where every one of the Z fighters, their families and friends are gathered celebrating Goku's return from his 5 year training away with the reincarnated Buu. Bulma spared no expense for it as several stands full of high quality food are placed all over the back yard with her grandfather and Vegeta chowing down on it like there's no tomorrow while the others socialize between each other.

Hearing her call, Goku goes to take a bite out of his pork chop and look up only to by knocked off his chair by Pan who hugs him tightly." Grandpa! I can't believe its you." She holds him with all her strength with a grip tight enough to cut off the circulation to his brain as he gasps for air.

"C-choking.... me...." He manages to say prompting Pan to let go off him.

"Oh, sorry about that." She chuckles while awkwardly rubbing the back of her head. "I kinda get carried away with my strength sometimes."

Goku replies by hugging her back. "Its good to see you too my little Pan."

She smiles and hugs him back, gently this time with Chi-Chi and Gohan enjoying the sight before them, that is until Vegeta interrupts them. "Keep wasting time Kakarot, I'll just keep enjoying all this delicious food without you."

Goku's eyes shoot open and he immediately let's go off Pan to witness Vegeta devouring his entire pork chop within seconds before taking another. "You... evil monster..."

He immediately gets back on his chair and starts eating anything he can get his hands on with Vegeta smirking at his successful attempt at riling him up, the competition to see who could eat more was truly on now, and no one dared to interfere with it. Nearby, Piccolo sits on a table with Dende and Mister Popo with his arms crossed and his thoughts elsewhere, something that does not go unnoticed by the young Guardian of Earth.

"Are you okay Piccolo? You look kinda worried about something." Says Dende before taking a sip off his soup while Piccolo seemingly snaps out of it upon hearing his voice.

"Sorry about that... I just had a weird feeling is all.... "

"What about?"

"Something on the Lookout I think, but it went by so quick I'm not even sure it was real." He admits before turning to Mister Popo. "Are you sure the Lookout is protected well enough?"

"I wouldn't worry about it my friend." Replies Mister Popo. "Karin and Yajirobe are still stationed on Karin's tower and no one can gain entry to the Lookout proper without their permission."

"Hm..." He lets out before turning his attention back on the Lookout, still not convinced that it was just a passing feeling.

* * *

 

"Eternal dragon! By your name I summon thee forth! Come mighty Shenron and fulfill our hearts desire!" Proclaims Emperor Pilaf as he, Mai and Shu stand outside of their Pilaf Machine right in the middle of the Lookout with the seven Dragon Balls gathered before them. As usual, the orbs begin to glow with the sky around the entire planet darkening before a massive surge of energy explodes from them.

The surge begins to twist and turn all over Lookout as it takes form and causes thunder storms to erupt all over the surrounding area, soon the shape of the dragon comes into being, but it is one not familiar to them. This dragon is ten times the size of the Shenron they know, his head alone is about the size of the Lookout, his eyes glow yellow and his scales are all blood red and a yellow aura surrounds him as his head closes in on the Pilaf gang.

They all gawk at it with a mix of fear and excitement in their eyes as the gargantuan mythical creäture stares at them before speaking in a deep, pounding voice. "Why have you summoned me mortals?"

* * *

The gathered Z fighters all stare at the newly blackened sky with curious looks on their faces. "Looks like some ones managed to summon Shenron." States Gohan before he and the others all return to doing what they were doing as if nothing was wrong, except Piccolo who instantly recognizes the energy emanating from the Lookout. A horrible sense of dread washes over him as he grits his teeth in anger and gets out of his chair. "Goku!"

Yells Piccolo angrily, earning the attention of everyone around him though Goku merely glances at his direction before turning back to eating. "Sorry, can't talk, gotta eat." 

Piccolo scowls at him before flying over and with one swift motion, knocks all the food away into the nearby pool. Goku and Vegeta look on in horror as their food lands inside, ruined forever and the two Saiyan warriors immediately glare at him.

"Whats the big idea?!" Asks Vegeta with his temper flaring up.

"Yeah, why'd you do thach!" Piccolo grabs them both by the collars of their Gi and Saiyan armor respectively with a dead serious look on his face.

"Get us to the Lookout now! If we don't stop whoever's summoned Shenron this whole planet is doomed!"

"What are you-" Questions Vegeta though Piccolo cuts him off. "JUST DO IT!" 

Nodding in understanding, Goku places his fingers on his forehead and the three of them are immediately transported to the Lookout while the remaining Z fighters look on with confused looks at whats going on. The three of them appear merely a few feet away from the Pilaf gang and take a good look at the gargantuan, red Shenron hovering above the Lookout, his sheer size easily surpassing both regular Shenron and Porunga. 

"Wow, Shenron's gotten big since I last saw him." Comments Goku in amazement. "Did Dende upgrade him again or what?"

"This isn't the work of Dende but I'll explain later." Replies Piccolo before spotting the Pilaf gang, his temper instantly flares up before declaring. "You three!"

His deep voice echoes all over the place and the three Earthlings turn around to see a very angry Piccolo, amazed Goku and befuddled Vegeta standing a few feet away from them. "Who in the hell are you guys-" Before Pilaf can finish, Piccolo fires off a Ki blast which the three of them barely manage to dodge though their Pilaf Machine is instantly blown to pieces. 

Pilaf manages to get back on his feet and angrily glares at the three Z fighters approaching him and points his finger at them. "How dare you try to strike down the mighty Emperor Pilaf just as he's about to gain immortality?!"

"Don't worry boss." Says Shu while drawing out his sword while Mai takes aim with her rocket launcher. "We got your back against.... these.... guys...." Shu immediately drops his sword once he recognizes one of them much to the annoyance of Pilaf.

"What do you think you're doing?! Fight them damn you!"

"But.... sire.... that's.... G-goku..." He stutters before gulping and points at the Saiyan warrior standing next to Piccolo. Mai and Pilaf both take a good hard look at him and immediately recognize him as well, instantly their rage is replaced by a horrible sense of dread as he gets closer to them.

"No...." Mutters Pilaf as he stares at the one who's caused him so many problems in the past. The boy who continuously robed him of all his wishes and has been a constant thorn in his side. "Not again...." He clenches his fists and glares at him.

"So this is the great threat you're so worried about Piccolo? They look weak to me." Scoffs Vegeta while crossing his arms. "They probably couldn't beat Chi-Chi let alone any of us."

"Not the time for this Vegeta." Replies Piccolo as he glances over at the red Shenron hovering overhead. 

"You'd be surprised by how strong Chi-Chi is." Thinks Goku before turning his attention to the Pilaf gang. "I'm sorry for ruining your wish guys, but if my friend here says its bad news then I can't let you go through with it."

"You...." Mutters Pilaf again while scowling at Goku. "You.... won't do this to me again Goku..."

"I'm sorry, but I don't even know who you guys are. What'd I do to you?"

"You're going to die right now that's what!" Exclaims Pilaf before grabbing Mai's discarded rocket launcher off the ground and firing it at the three Z fighters standing nearby though Goku casually kicks it away and it explodes up in the air. Pilaf's left eye twitches in anger before he throws the launcher onto the ground and proceeds to kick it over and over. 

"Uhm sire." Speaks up Shu. "He looks a lot stronger now, I'm not sure that had any chance of working."

"Oh big deal!" Yells back Pilaf. "So now he thinks he's all that just because he's got a muscle bound body?! Oh I wish I could see him try to do that if he was just as old and decrepit like us!" 

"As you wish." The red Shernon who had been observing all of this as he patiently waited for his summoners wish speaks up at last, earning the attention of everyone around him. His eyes glow yellow, letting everyone know his power has been activated, Goku immediately falls to his knees and starts yelling in pain with Piccolo and Vegeta looking on. Helpless to aid their friend as the dragons power causes his whole body to age by about 30 years. His fairly youthful appearance fades away in a matter of seconds. His hair goes gray and shrinks down considerably, he gets several inches shorter with his muscles almost completely vanishing, his skin becomes shriveled all over and his voice becomes older and much more tired. 

He lets out a last tired sigh before plummeting face first to the ground though Vegeta manages to catch him on the way down. "Kakarot!" He yells and checks his pulse to see if he's still there is relieve to find that his heart still works, barely. 

Piccolo on the other hand turns his attention to the dragon. "Your wish has been granted, fare thee well." Red Shenron dissipates, causing the sky to return to normal and the seven Dragon Balls to begin hovering in the air before breaking off into separate directions. Piccolo tries to catch them before they depart but falls short as they fly into the upper atmosphere of the planet, further away from Earth before leaving to separate parts of the galaxy. 

"NO!" Yells Piccolo with his aura flaring up and clenching his hand so hard its drawing blood from his palm. "This.... is not good." 

* * *

 

To be continued....


	3. The Nameless One's Sin

**West City Hospital**

"I'm not going to lie to you Miss Son, your husband's condition is severe." States an elderly looking Doctor to a weeping Chi-Chi as she looks at her unconscious, old and tired looking Goku while stroking his newly gray hair. Gohan stands next to her with his hand at her shoulder while Goten looks on while sitting on the edge of an open window.

Pan and Videl are outside with the other Z-fighters, most of whom sit in silence with solemn or worried looks on their faces as they wait to hear what Pilaf's wish has done to Goku's body. Vegeta and Piccolo are the exceptions, for they opt to stand with the former trying his best not to let his fury show. Piccolo meanwhile looks out of a window with his arms crossed and his fists clenched tight as he's the only one to hear everything inside thanks to his enhanced hearing. A trait he wished he didn't have right now.

"His muscles have atrophied considerably along with his severely weakened bones, his lungs, kidneys and heart are all on the brink of shutting down and will require extensive machinery to remain functioning." He looks away from the chart in his hand and notices that Chi-Chi isn't listening to him.

Gohan also takes notice and decides to speak up. "Is that all Doctor?"

The Doctor gives him a worried look before continuing. "For now it is. But I fear there may be much more wrong with him as we do further tests, for now these machines should keep his vital organs alive while we deal with anything else."

"What about..." Mutters Goten before speaking up. "What about his coma? Anything you can do for him on that end?"

"I'm afraid not Mister Son, for all our technological advancements in medicine I fear the inner workings of the mind still elude us. All I can say is that your father will wake up when he wakes up, whenever that may be."

Goten gulps at hearing this and looks at his sleeping, aged father with his mind racing at the possible scenarios of him not waking up or outright dying on that bed. Not wanting to make things any worse, he decides to keep these thoughts to himself for now, not wanting to upset his mother anymore. "I... understand Doc."

He nods before looking at Gohan. "I'm afraid I have more patients to deal with, but I will be keeping a close eye on your father. I will ensure that he receives the best care possible here."

Gohan manages to form a smile before shaking the man's hand. "I appreciate that Doctor."

The nods before walking towards the door though steps before exiting, he turns his head back to address them. "One more thing, should I inform your friends out there of his condition or?"

"I can take care of that." Speaks up Goten before getting back on his feet.

"You sure?" Asks Gohan.

"Yeah, mom needs you right now. I can handle giving everyone the details."

He walks out of the room with the Doctor next to him and gulps as everyone's eyes immediately snap to him with Pan and Videl rising out of their chairs and walking up to him. "Uncle Goten..." Asks a worried Pan. "Is... is Grandpa Goku... okay?"

Goten gulps again and kneels in front of his niece as she tries to fight back the tears. "I wish I could say he was Pan... Y'see, he's kind of... sick. But the doctors here are going to do their best to help him."

"Can't the Dragon Balls help him? I mean if they can bring people back from the dead, shouldn't they be able to fix his body?" Asks Videl with Krillin and the others smiling at this.

"Yeah, she's right!" Speaks up Krillin. "If there's one guy who can help reverse the wish Pilaf made, its Shenron! We should go out there right now and collect the Dragon Ball-"

"Fool!" Yells Piccolo before turning around to face everyone. "You've no idea of the power that did this to Goku, none of you do. Our Shenron is nowhere near powerful enough to break the wish Pilaf cast on Goku, even after Dende remade him."

"Can't we go to Namek then?" Suggests Tien. "If memory serves, your people had an Eternal Dragon a lot more powerful than ours on Namek right?"

"Then it's settled." Interjects Vegeta with a confident smirk. "We'll have Bulma here build us a ship and with a little help of that fat Kai Goku hangs out with, we should be able to find New Namek quickly."

"Even Porunga can't help us now." Says Piccolo reluctantly much to everyone's shock. "If Guru were still alive then it might work, but Moori had to give new life to Porunga just as Dende did for Shenron when Kami and I fused. While his power is great, he's nowhere near Guru's level and as such-"

"He's weaker than he used to be..." Concludes Krillin with his hopes shattered along with everyone else's.

"Who could create an Eternal Dragon so powerful that none of ours can break his wish." Ponders Trunks with Vegeta giving Piccolo a knowing look.

"It was  **you** , wasn't it?" States Vegeta as he stares at Piccolo with the others doing the same. "That's why you were so frightened when the gang of imbeciles summoned that Red Shenron, and how you knew they were activated. You made those powerful Dragon Balls didn't you?"

"Yeah... I did." He says reluctantly though the others decide to let him speak. "In a matter of speaking, of course, you see, I wasn't always Piccolo. I was once simply known as the Nameless Namek. I came to this world many centuries ago after my father sent me here to save my life from a great disaster that befell Old Namek. At first I spent a few years in the desolate wastes of Yunzabit Heights before journeying to human society. At the time, Earth was a violent place with great wars plaguing it which I decided to help stop and let the world enter an era of long peace that has continued to this very day... mostly anyway. But there was a price to my intervention..."

"You split into two beings." States Bulma as she recalls this tale with Piccolo nodding.

"Yes, the evils I was exposed to changed something inside of me. An internal struggle that resulted in the splitting of the Nameless Namek into two beings, one good Namek you know as Kami, and the other.. the original King Piccolo. But the creation of those Dragon Balls you saw Vegeta is what caused that split."

* * *

**Kami's Lookout, many centuries ago**

The Nameless Namek stands at the center of the Lookout, his home after leaving Yunzabit now under the watchful eye of the Earths Guardian. Recently, his rival for position of new Earth Guardian, Lord Garlic, proved himself to be a vile and untrustworthy being and now lies sealed forever in the Dead Zone. The Nameless Namek assumed that the position would be his now, but the previous Guardian still refuses to give it, for he senses an evil within the young Namek that must be purged.

Deep in the recess of his mind, the young Namek knew of a power which could help purge him off this evil, for he did not believe he had the power to do so. Vivid visions of magical orbs capable of granting any user his or her wish haunted his mind perpetually, now the time has come for him to create them.

At his feet is a set of seven stones, each as big as a human's clenched fist with a dragon statue positioned in-between them. The Nameless Namek stares at these objects before him and he instinctively begins chanting in a language, not of this world. His hand raise themselves and extend towards the objects before him as the power coursing throughout his body begins to pour into them.

The statue and the balls begin to glow with a bright yellow light which begins engulfing them completely, his chanting grows from a whisper to a loud yet of yells as he puts more and more of his strength into them. A satisfied smirk begins to form on his face as he can feel the realization of his visions and his heart's desire now becoming a reality as the balls transform. No longer are they plain, white stones but orbs in orange and a black star to signify each one.

Then the dragon changes with the statue vanishing into the orbs, engulfing them in another bright ray of energy before finally bursting out in a brilliant explosion of light and power. The Nameless Namek looks on in awe as the energy coming from the newly created Black Star Dragon Balls takes shape in the form of a gargantuan, red colored dragon with glowing yellow eyes and a head the size of the Lookout.

The Dragon lets out a long sigh before turning its attention to the being in front of him. "What is thy bidding, my master?" Asks the dragon in a deep voice that would make even the bravest of humans shake in fear, that is, if his appearance didn't already.

A sense of relief washes over the Nameless Namek as he smiles and lets out an overjoyed shout. "Yes! I did it!" He lets out a few more before grinning at the Dragon.

"Finally, with the power of this being I can rid myself of the things holding me back and finally attain the power of the Earth Guardian! None will stand in my way of ruling this world then!"

Just as those selfish, power hungry words leave his lips, a horrible realization overtakes his mind. His joy and satisfaction immediately evaporates away and is replaced by shame... and knowledge. Knowledge of why his predecessor has not yet named him as his successor even after his services against the armies of Lord Garlic. He finally senses the evil within, and what its creation will do to this world if its purpose is done.

"Why is thy bidding my master?" The Dragon asks again with the Nameless Namek remaining silent as he falls to his knees and scowls at it.

"This.. creature... it will destroy this world... I can't-"

**"Use it?"** Says another voice in his head, one more vicious and bloodthirsty than his own, but his voice none the less.  **"Please boy, your fear is unfounded, we are the creators of this being. If we desire not for it to destroy this world upon our wish of world domination being granted, it will not do it."**

"W-who are you?!"

**"I'm you, of course."** He chuckles before continuing.  **"Or rather, I'm your true self. The one that despises these worthless humans who've caused you to witness so much pain, death, and destruction because of their senseless wars. The one who will make them suffer, once he rules them all with an iron fist. All you need to do now is let me take over... and say what your hearts desire is to the dragon."**

"No... you're wrong, I don't resent humanity, even after all the things I've witnessed them do." He says defiantly though the voice chuckles again.

**"Please, the first thing you saw of humanity is them burning down a village of innocent women and children with fire and machines. I know you want to make them hurt and bleed boy, I know because I was born on that very. Same. Day."**

"You... you're the evil my master spoke of... the demon inside me who wants to destroy everything I am."

**"A demon you say?"** Ponders the voice.  **"Yes, I like that. A demon to rule all demons of this world, quite a fitting description if I do say so myself."**

The Nameless Namek clenches his fists and grits his teeth before getting back on his feet. He scowls at the nearby Dragon before stating. "Eternal Dragon! Return to your slumber! I've no need of your services this day!"

"Very well then master, fare thee well." Replies the dragon before vanishing into the seven Black Star Dragon Balls.

**"What are you doing?!"**

Ignoring the yell of the voice, the Nameless Namek focuses all his strength into his body and yells in pain as he taps into an ability he did not know he was capable off until the discovery of the voice. A pain unlike another sends his body into shock and he falls on his back with loud yells escaping his lips. From afar, his predecessor clad in a cloak from head to toe observes this, eager to see what the outcome will be.

The Nameless Namek shirt starts to tear off as a protruding mass starts growing out of his back, as the mass grows and begins leaving him, it takes the form of yet another Namek similar in appearance to the original. The Nameless Namek musters the strength to get back on his feet and scowls at his darker half as he does the same.

"At last, I'm rid of you." He tells his darker self who grits his teeth in anger.

"You fool! If you had let me take over our power would've been unbeatable! Now we're both shadows of our former self!"

"Perhaps, but at least now that power cannot be used to create anymore destructive objects like those orbs ever again."

His darker half smirks. "So you say, but I will-" He glances over at the location of the orbs and sees that they're missing. He frantically looks around for them until he finds them levitating into the Lookout with the Guardian watching over them. "You old bastard!"

He fires off a blast of Ki energy at the Guardian who effortlessly deflects it before pointing his staff at the dark Namek, paralyzing him instantly. "Your kind is not welcome here demon, you will never set foot on this Lookout or see these orbs ever again, now, begone!"

With a mighty telekinetic blast, the Guardian sends the Dark Namek flying off of the Lookout and with his authority, makes it impossible for him to every find it, let alone step on it. He lets out a tired sigh before looking over at his apprentice. "It is done my boy, that creature will trouble you or me ever again."

* * *

**Present Day**

"The Guardian was wrong of course, King Piccolo went on to ravage the world after Kami's predecessor died, wasn't until Master Roshi here that he was finally sealed away for a long time."

"But what about these Dragon Balls the Nameless Namek created? What happened to them?" Asks Trunks.

"They were sealed away into the lowest level of the Lookout with a special magical seal placed on the doors to prevent anyone from opening them."

"Obviously it didn't work then, otherwise Kakarot wouldn't be in this mess!" Retorts Vegeta with his temper flaring up.

"The seal was to send a warning to Kami, or in this case me should anyone try to attain the Black Star Dragon Balls. However, the seal had obviously grown old and its power wasn't what it used to be. Still, I never imagine anyone, let alone Pilaf could get up to the Lookout and manage to use them. All this time we've been fighting evil aliens, or androids or evil magic aliens that guys like Pilaf seemed miniscule, harmless by comparison."

"And now he might just be the guy to do Goku in, permanently." Concludes Yamcha with everyone growing more worried at this when Bulma realizes something.

"Hold up you guys!" She yells while jumping out of her seat. "If the Black Star Dragon Balls can bring Goku back to normal, then all we gotta do is go out there and look for them, they're probably just scattered across the planet is all."

"Don't be so sure Bulma, King Piccolo designed these so they could only be used once and never again. He made it so they would scatter across the very galaxy itself where no human could ever hope to use them against him."

"The galaxy?!" They all yell in unison at the very idea of it.

"But that's not what makes these damn things so scary, for you see, these were created at a time when the Nameless Namek was unstable emotionally and psychologically. Coupled with the massive power poured into them, they have a horrible setback that makes them the most dangerous of all the Dragon Ball sets. Every time a wish is granted, the world the wish was granted on has exactly one year to bring all of them back to exact same spot, or else..."

"Or else what?" Asks Krillin.

"That planet will explode, and everyone on it will die."

They're all setback by this news as the stakes just got even higher for their world, not helped by what Bulma implies next. "But... if we need to gather these to help Goku, won't they scatter all over the place again?"

"Yes and then we'll be back in the same spot we are now, that is if there's an Earth left to save this time next year."

"Maybe not." They all turn around to see Gohan standing there having been listening to what was going on outside for a while now. "I think I know how we can save dad and the Earth without needing to go out into space twice. We just use our own Dragon Balls is all."

"Already told you kid, our Dragon Balls aren't strong enough to prevent the power of the Black Star ones. Even the destruction of the Earth's core is something beyond them." Replies Piccolo with Gohan giving him a confident smirk.

"True, but what if we use the Black Stars to wish back my dad into good health and then use our own to make a new Earth. Once that's done we use the second wish to teleport everyone else to this new Earth, that way we don't have to go out into space again."

"Is that possible?" Asks Tien to Dende who ponders the idea.

"Well, our Shenron is a lot stronger after I revived him so yeah, I think he should be able to pull these wishes off no problem. And he'll follow us to New Earth too, just like how Porunga did after he teleported us off Old Namek."

"Then that settles it!" Proclaims a happy Pan. "We're gonna go out to space and save my Grandpa and the world!"

Videl glares at Gohan who chuckles nervously. "Well... I was a lot younger than her when I went to space."

She continues glaring at him.

"I was just kidding honey." He defends himself when Piccolo speaks up.

"If anyone's going into space it's me. These Dragon Balls were created by me, they caused all of this and I'm getting them back, end of story. Feel free to tag along if you want, or not, either way works for me."

"I know one guy who's-" Says Bulma but Vegeta silences her.

"I'm not going if that's who you're talking about."

"But why?!" She yells. "You were born in space! You know it better than any of us!"

"And I'll give you all the coordinates of planets I know of, but with Kakarot down for the count I don't intend to leave the Earth defenseless. I might not be as strong as he is, but my training with Piccolo here has yielded great results." He looks over to both Gohan and Uub. "The bookworm over there might not fight much-

"Hey!"

"But his unlocked power puts him in a league above both me and Kakarot and the boy over there has been training for this for the past 5 years now, its time to see what he's made of."

"You really think someone's gonna attack us now? I mean it's been like 15 years since the last time that kind of thing happened." Asks Krillin while Vegeta scoffs at this.

"It doesn't matter how long it's been, for all we know this could be the start of more disaster waiting our world, and I intend to be ready for it when they do and the more powerful fighters there are left here the better."

"As bad as this is gonna sound, count me out of this." States Krillin much to everyone's shock. "I mean, I love Goku like a brother, but it's been a very long time since I've been any use to anyone in a fight. Plus it's been years since I've trained and I'm not exactly a spring chicken anymore, I'd probably just get in the way if I went."

"Same here, sorry guys." Says Yamcha with Tien nodding in agreement.

"Well then, I guess that just leaves two volunteers." States Vegeta with a smirk on his face as he glances over to both Trunks and Gohan. "I'd say you two slackers have spent quite enough time being useless."

Piccolo lets out a chuckle and smirks at the two of them as they gulp in fear of this new development. "Agreed, it's time you two stepped up and did something useful for a change." He walks towards them and cracks his knuckles.

"And if you don't, you'll regret it." States Vegeta while doing the same.

"And after they're done with you, me and Chi-Chi are gonna be round two." States Bulma as she too joins in on the fun.

"B-but... but..." Stutters Trunks though the scowls of Vegeta, Piccolo and Bulma immediately silences him and Goten. They two look at each other before nodding in agreement. "Yes sirs."


	4. Blast Off

**Capsule Corp Headquarters**

"Your skills have gotten worse than I thought boy." States Vegeta with a disappointed look on his face as he sends a volley of punches towards his son who just barely manages to block them as they both train in their Super Saiyan forms. Nearby Goten finds himself in the same spot as he just barely manages to avoid the attacks of his Super Namekian sparring partner.

"Oh c'mon dad! I've been busy what with leading Capsule Corp and-" A punch breaking his nose cuts him off and sends him flying into the air where he smacks the nearby Gravity Chamber wall face first.

"Excuses, excuses." Scoffs Vegeta before spitting on the ground. "No more, I've tolerated your slacker attitude for too long and now it's made you weaker than when you were a child. The fate of the world depends on you and your fellow slacker over there," Goten lets out a pained gasp as Piccolo knees him in the stomach then karate chops him in the back of the head. "And you two will be ready for what's out there!"

With his aura flaring up, Vegeta roars and flies towards his son who manages to recover quickly enough to avoid his kick and fly upwards to put some distance. But it is not easy for him, as the 500 times Gravity makes him feel slow and sluggish even with his vastly greater power as a Super Saiyan.

"As much as I hate to admit it, dads kind of right about this," Ponders Trunks inwardly while firing some Ki blasts at his father. "I'm totally out of shape, the way I am now I probably couldn't even beat Miss 18 without fusing with Goten."

Vegeta easily dispels his Ki blasts with a flick of his hands and rams his fist into Trunks' stomach before backhanding him across the face, managing to draw blood from his lips in the process. This time however Trunks doesn't try to flee but instead grits his teeth and with a determined look on his face proceeds to kick his father in the head who smirks at this. "Not bad boy," he quickly grabs Trunks by his leg. "But not good enough."

He immediately starts spinning around in mid-air with a smirk as his son realizes the folly of his last move. Meanwhile, Goten finds himself in an equally precarious situation with Piccolo as he's blasted away by the Namekian's point blank energy wave. He tumbles on the ground with several burn marks now covering his body though he manages to get back on his feet.

"Is that... the best you got?" Says a tired yet confident Goten before getting back into his fighting pose.

Piccolo chuckles at this before noticing Vegeta spinning Trunks in the air and an idea forms in his head. Without a word, he extends his hands towards the youngest son of Goku and manages to grab him by the throat. Goten gasps for air as Piccolo's hand tightens around his neck before the arm reverts back to its regular length, reeling in Goten like a fish towards its captor. Piccolo uppercuts him the instant he arrives before roaring and sending him flying towards Vegeta. The Prince of Saiyan's takes notice and promptly tosses Trunks in Piccolo's direction.

Trunks and Goten smack into each other and with a loud thud crash in the middle of the gravity chamber. They moan in pain and notice Vegeta and Piccolo approaching them with smirks on their faces. "I think they're enjoying this... " Mutters Goten as he and his best friend get back on their feet.

"Oh, I **know** dads enjoying this, I just wish I could wipe that smirk off his face." Replies Trunks when an idea comes to mind, he telepathically contacts Goten immediately to relay it to him as their sparring partners stop a few feet away from them.

"How cute, they think they'll win by teaming up on us." Laughs Vegeta while crossing his arms. "Well, go on then, show us the power of teamwork and friendship!" He laughs hysterically again while Piccolo remains silent as Trunks starts charging his most powerful Ki blast, the Burning attack. His aura flares up as he puts all of his remaining power into the attack while Vegeta continues standing there, confident that the blast can't hurt him.

Goten on the other hand just stands there, smirking and staring at the Super Namekian before him before putting his thumb and middle finger in his mouth. "No... he wouldn't," He nervously thinks to himself when his fears are confirmed by Goten taking a deep, long breath. "You little bastards!"

Piccolo runs towards them to stop it but its too late, with all his might Goten lets out a very loud whistle and the Namekian warrior is instantly sent to his knees as the noise rings through his skull. Expecting an attack from Trunks, Vegeta readies himself in case the two have something planned for him as well. To his surprise, however, Trunks turns around and fires his Burning Attack at the vulnerable Piccolo, engulfing the Namekian in a large, smoke-filled explosion.

"Clever little slackers aren't you?" Yells Vegeta while charging at the two with his fist raised, they manage to avoid his punch and chuckle as he angrily punches a hole right through the floor of the chamber. Then they put their hands to their side in a pose all too familiar to the Saiyan Prince. "Clever slackers indeed."

"Ka... me... ha... me... **HA!** " The two fire off a massive Kamehameha wave at Vegeta. Knowing he has no time to fire off a blast of his own strong enough to challenge theirs, he instead puts his arms in front of his head and takes the blue Ki attack. Despite them being weaker individually, the two young Super Saiyan's blast begins pushing Vegeta back who roars as he tries to break the blast without blowing up the whole building.

"Wow," Yells a surprised Goten at the sight of a struggling Vegeta. "We're winning!"

"I'm surprised too but don't let up. My dad's not the type to go down easy-" The presence of a strong Ki signature behind them causes him to turn his head around to find an annoyed looking Piccolo cracking h

The presence of a strong Ki signature behind them causes him to turn his head around to find an annoyed looking Piccolo cracking his knuckles. "Well, can't say I didn't see this coming-"

The Namekian warrior grabs them both by their heads and proceeds to bash them against one another, causing their join Kamehameha wave to dissipate. The young hybrids moan and grunt in pain with each blow as they're helpless to break away from his grip. After about twenty or so hits like this, Piccolo tosses them both to the ground where they land face first as their Super Saiyan forms turn off.

"You two deserve a lot worse for that dirty little trick." Criticizes Piccolo before landing on the ground, his eyes never leaving the two wounded hybrids lying on the floor. "Let me guess, Gohan must've told about the whistling thing didn't he?"

"Pretty much," Admits Goten. "You gotta admit though, it was a pretty good plan."

"No doubt concocted by my son," Interjects Vegeta before powering down and walking towards his son who turns around to face him. He smiles at him before saying, "Well done boy, keep thinking like this and you'll be able to beat any adversary. Whether it's on battlefield or the one in the Capsule Corps board room."

Trunks is initially surprised look upon hearing his praise but quickly smiles and chuckles regardless. "Thank you, dad! That means a lot coming from you!" Then he turns around and faces Piccolo. "I'm truly sorry about the whistling thing Mister Piccolo. I just wanted to prove to you and dad that we're capable of holding our own in a fight."

Piccolo gives him an annoyed look while curling his lip before letting out a long sigh. "Its fine I guess, we have been giving you two a pretty hard time this past week, after all. It was bound to come back and bite one of us sooner or later."

His cape and turban form on at their usual places before he takes a small brown bag out of his pocket containing a few Senzu beans. He takes one out and snaps it in half before tossing it to the two boys. "Eat up, you'll need it to continue training."

Goten eyes the bean curiously before speaking up. "You sure it's a good idea to use these now? I mean we don't exactly have a lot of them to begin with."

"Ordinarily I wouldn't, but you pushed yourselves pretty far this time around. We've only a few more days left until the ships ready and I want those days to be spent training more, not licking the wounds of this session." Answers Piccolo before walking towards the door of the shuttle and opening it with the press of a button. He hears their unannounced visitor gasp outside before running away, some thing that's been happening for the past couple of days now.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow, you know where to find me if anything comes up."

Vegeta nods as the two boys eat their split Senzu bean and are immediately reinvigorated by its power. They all promptly leave the Chamber with Piccolo going after their uninvited guest while the others head for the showers. On their way there, Vegeta stops dead in his tracks upon feeling an odd sensation in his head followed by a familiar voice. "Vegeta! Can you hear me?"

The two hybrids notice this and give him confused looks. "You okay dad?"

"Go ahead without me, there's someone I need to deal with first." He floats over to the nearby window, opens it then heads towards the top of the Capsule Corp building to get some privacy. "This better be important King Kai."

"Indeed it is," He confirms. "I heard about what happened to Goku from his son Gohan not too long ago, what a terrible fate to befall a warrior like him."

"If you contacted me only so I could listen to this then I'll be going now-"

"My, my, still so impatient even after all these years." Comments King Kai with Vegeta grumbling in annoyance. "But no, it didn't contact you for nothing. For you see, I've got a task for you, one that comes directly from Goku himself."

"You managed to talk to him despite his coma?" Inquires Vegeta with his curiosity peeking.

"Tried that, but it didn't work, and I don't want to force anything. The mind can be a tricky thing to deal with, no, this task was assigned to you a couple years back when he and Uub first came to train on my planet."

* * *

**3 Years Ago, King Kai's Planet**

"You've done a pretty good job training the boy so far Goku." States an impressed King Kai as he watches the teen chase after both Bubbles and Gregory around his small world while sipping some tea. To his right is Goku, chowing down on some pork chops with the same lack of manners as ever. "If you keep this up, he'll catch up to you in no time."

"That's what I thought too," He mumbles with the big piece of meat in his mouth. "At first."

"Something the matter?"

He notices Goku putting on a serious face before placing the next pork chop onto the table. "For a while, our training was going pretty good. His Kaio-Ken was going up to levels I never even tried and he was making a lot of progress."

"But?"

"But, about six months ago when he tried to do a Kaio-Ken times 20 his heart almost exploded." Admits a worried Goku. "I had to rush over to Karin to get a Senzu Bean or else he would've died. Now he can't even use a times 15 Kaio-Ken without the same thing happening."

"Hrm, I should've seen this coming." Ponders King Kai. "I assumed that because of his vast potential he would be able to compensate for his human body. But it seems that as Uub's base power grows, the amount he can force it to increase with the Kaio-Ken is shrinking. The amount of power it gives him is simply too great for him to handle."

"But that doesn't make sense King-Kai," Questions Goku. "I mean Uub dared me to go the highest I could and I was able to push it to over 50. I mean it only lasted a few seconds but I could handle it, and my base power is way higher than Uub's."

"You forget one important thing Goku," Interjects King Kai. "You are a Saiyan. Your species is a warrior one, capable of staying in its prime decades longer than most others. Your body is capable of withstanding punishment that would leave any others crippled for life. Uub however..." He sees the boy catch Bubbles and Gregory off in the distance.

"Is only human..." Concludes Goku just as Uub runs up to him. "Nice work out there buddy, I knew you could do it!"

"Thank you master!" He replies. "Do you maybe have something else for me to do?"

"How about you... " He notices Snake Way down below when an idea comes to him. "Take 50 laps over Snake Way."

Uub turns around to the thing Goku points too and smiles. "You got it master! I'll have it done in no time."

"I don't doubt that for a second Uub." He watches his apprentice fly towards the beginning portion of Snake Way, happy that he managed to keep him occupied a little while longer. "So, what do I do about this? I mean if Uub's human body is holding him back, then he might never be able to reach his full potential."

"Have you considered taking him to Old Kai?" King Kai suggests. "As I recall his training would help unlock all his potential with relative ease."

"I suggested it to Uub once but he said no. He told me he wants to reach his full potential with **my** kind of training. Not by just sitting around for a whole day so Old Kai can unlock it for him."

"I didn't expect the boy to have such pride." States King Kai before taking another sip of his tea.

"We all have pride King Kai, even me," Admits Goku with a chuckle. "But still, if this keeps going on, Uub may have no choice but to do that if he ever wants to reach a level strong enough to take on guys like Cell or Buu. How long before even the simplest Kaio-Ken becomes too much for him?"

"I'm sure you'll figure something out Goku, you always do." Assures King Kai with Goku giving him a friendly smile.

"That reminds me!" He exclaims as he remembers the other matter he wanted to discuss with King Kai. "There's one other thing I wanted to ask you King Kai, since I kind of keep dying from time to time I wanted to ask you-"

"Oh no!" Interjects King Kai with a dismissive hand wave. "I appreciate that you wanna leave Uub in my care, but my best days are behind me Goku. I couldn't keep up with him, let alone train him."

"That's actually not what I was gonna ask you, I had someone better in mind in case that happened."

King Kai gives him a disapproving look. "Oh, so now I'm not good enough to train your apprentice eh? Gee, thanks a lot Goku."

"No, no, no, no!" Exclaims a worried Goku while waving his hands. "You're great King Kai! And I if I had no one else I'd-" Then he notices the old deity chuckling uncontrollably.

"Geez calm down, I was only just yanking your chain there," Admits King Kai as he barely contains his laughter. "I'll let your replacement as Uub's master know about your request. Still, do you think he'll go for it?"

"Vegeta? Well the old him probably wouldn't have. But he's been training a lot with Piccolo for a long time now. Plus I think he'd be happy to see a young prodigy enthusiastic about fighting."

I suppose you're right," Ponders King Kai. "I just hope Vegeta's crazy training regiment doesn't do him in before it's complete."

* * *

**Present Day, Capsule Corp Headquarters**

"Kakarot wanted **me** to take over the boys training?" Says a surprised Vegeta upon hearing the details of this. "I would've thought he'd pick someone else for it."

"Besides him, you and Piccolo are the only one's who've bothered to train during these periods of peace on Earth. Plus he knew if anyone's training regimen could push Uub past his limits, it would be yours Vegeta."

The Saiyan Prince crossed his arms and fell silent for a minute as he contemplated this. It was true that only the three of them bothered to keep their skills sharp while none but Pan has that same drive. He even contemplated training her at one point, but Gohan and Videl opted to have her focusing on her studying. A fact that infuriated him as it would let her **real** skills go to waste. Now, he has the chance to train a fighter to keep the world safe after he, Kakarot, and the others are Gone. Him potentially doing a better job at it than Kakarot being the icing on the cake.

"Very well King Kai," States Vegeta with a pleased tone to his voice and smirk on his face. "I will train the boy once the others have left to find the Black Star Dragon Balls."

"I knew you wouldn't pass this opportunity up Vegeta. Just... try not to kill the boy, your training can be a bit... excessive."

Vegeta lets out a chuckle at this statement before floating back inside. "No promises."

* * *

**Border of West City**

Piccolo lands in an alley on the edge of the city several kilometers away from the Capsule Corp Headquarters and crosses his arms as he clearly hears her heartbeat and breathing despite her hiding behind a dumpster. "Come out Pan, I know it's you."

The girl reluctantly comes out of cover and nervously smiles at him. "Hey Uncle Piccolo, I was just-"

"Skipping school to watch us train?" He interjects. "You know you shouldn't be doing that Pan."

"I know... its just... I feel useless just going on like everything's fine when it's not." She admits nervously. "I mean the whole world could be getting destroy by this time next year, shouldn't I be in there with you guys? Training to go help save it?"

"If there was no one else who could go with us I'd take you with me Pan," Assures Piccolo. "But the fact of the matter is that the three of us are more than capable of doing this. There's no reason to risk your life by taking you with us."

"But you trained my dad to save the world when Uncle Vegeta tried to destroy it." She counters. "And you sent him out into space when he was younger than I am now, why is this any different?"

"It's different because at the time Gohan was the only one with the potential to save us," He argues. "Sure you grandfather was training with King Kai then, but we had no way of being sure he'd arrive on time. Your dad on the other hand had a massive amount of power, power that we desperately needed on our side back then. As for Namek your dad and Krillin were the only ones who we could send to Namek, another act of desperation on our part. Now we're far more ready and capable for this kind of situation, there's no need to put someone your age into that kind of danger."

He walks up to her and kneels before putting his hand on her shoulder. "I know you want to help Pan, and I know you probably don't think Trunks and Goten are the right ones for this mission."

"I'll say."

"But those two are more capable than most of us give them credit for, just look at what happened today. They might be slackers, but I know that they'll do their best on this mission," He smirks. "And if they don't, I'll be there to make them regret it."

She lets out a chuckle at this and smiles and nods in understanding. "Okay Uncle Piccolo, I believe you."

Wanting to make sure she won't try anything, an idea crosses Piccolo's mind. "If you want, I could ask Vegeta to train with you after we leave."

"My mom and dad weren't exactly thrilled with that a couple years ago." She states thinking there's no way they'd agree to this.

"True, but your dad mentioned wanting to get back into shape to help protect the Earth. With him being there to keep an eye on you, I think it won't be much of a problem this time around."

Her expression immediately lights up upon hearing this and she lets out an excited yell before hugging the Namekian. "Oh thank you Uncle Piccolo! Thank you so much!"

"Hmph," He hugs her back. "Don't mention it kid."

* * *

**Capsule Corp, Launch Day**

A few days later, the ship was finally completed by Bulma with aid from both 18 and Videl and was ready for its interstellar mission. The Z-fighters are gathered in the hangar of the Capsule Corp Headquarters to see the away team off. Trunks sits inside the ship with his mother to make sure everything's functioning correctly before launch while Goten and Piccolo stand outside to say their goodbyes.

"You be careful out there, you hear!" Exclaims a crying Chi-Chi while hugging Goten tightly, to the point where he struggles for air.

"I'll... be... okay mom..." He manages to say in-between breaths before his mom pulls away to address Piccolo.

"Piccolo... " She reluctantly says. "I know I haven't always been the biggest fan of yours, especially after you tried to kill Goku, kidnaped my son and forced him to-"

"Mom." Interjects Gohan with a disapproving tone to his voice with Piccolo himself giving her an equally disapproving look.

"But you've also helped save them both a lot since then, and... I need you to do it again, please."

"I intend to Chi-Chi." He tells her with a softer tone to his voice than usual and places a hand on her shoulder. "You can count on it."

He gives her a friendly smile before turning his attention to both Pan and Gohan. "I assume you told him my idea?"

"Yup!" She confirms. "And dads all for it, right dad?"

"I'm still a little worried about Vegeta's training-"

"I heard that bookworm!" Yells an annoyed Vegeta from afar.

"But I think she'll do fine, as long as she doesn't go overboard."

"Well she is a lot like my dad... " He ponders before coming to the logical conclusion. "So she probably will."

"We're ready for take off!" Yells Trunks from the ship and waving for the two of them to get in.

Bulma too exits the ship though not before planting a kiss on his cheek. "Take care of yourself out there Trunks, there's a lot of dangerous guys out there just waiting to cause trouble."

"Indeed, but your mother seems to like those types if I'm any proof of that." States Vegeta with a smirk as he walks up to them with Tapion's sword in his hand. "Here."

He tosses it over to him which Trunks manages to catch though he's confused by the gesture. "I thought you said weapons were for weaklings dad?"

"Most of them are," He says as he remembers witnessing his "other" son slice Freeza into pieces like he was nothing all those years ago with a sword very much like that one. "But I've got a feeling you'll make good use of it."

"Thanks, dad." He says before giving his dad a quick hug which Vegeta reluctantly returns as he doesn't like these public displays of affection, especially with everyone else around to see it. Bulla is the last one to approach and he notices a picture in her hand.

"Here," She gives it to him and he immediately smiles as he remembers the day it was taken. It was the day he and Bulla first sparred back when she was still interested in that stuff. "I didn't really know what to give you, but you always talk about that day whenever you see that picture so I figured..."

"I love it sis." He kisses her on the cheek before hugger, she returns the favor quickly before noticing that Goten and Piccolo are boarding the ship. "Well, time to go."

The gathered Z-fighters all yell and wave them goodbye with them taking another second to return the gesture, except Piccolo who opts to enter the cockpit. The two hybrids follow suite with Goten sitting next to the Namekian while Trunks takes his place on the pilots seat.

"You guys ready'?" Asks Goten with Piccolo merely nodding and Goten giving him a thumbs up. "Then let's roll!"

He activates several switches before turning the ignition key. The three ready themselves as they feel the ship shaking as the engine turns itself on and within seconds, they blast out of the hangar towards the stars. The vastness of the universe waiting for them as their friends and family look on, hopeful that they will succeed in their mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that turned out longer than I expected but overall as good as I could've hoped for. I had struggled quite a bit over whether or not to have Pan sneak onto the ship but I decided that 1) it would be cliche and 2) with Piccolo's enhanced hearing there's no way she could pull it off. The story will be periodically returning to Earth to see what its defenders are up too, so you can expect quite a bit of Pan, Uub, Vegeta and Gohan on that front. 
> 
> If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the reviews and I'll be sure to answer them to the best of my ability next chapter.


	5. The Challenge

"How long is he gonna take?" Whispers Goten to Trunk as the two stare at a meditating Piccolo as he tries to focus in on the energy of the Black Star Dragon Balls. Despite the advantages of the Dragon Radar, even an upgraded one, it can only cover a finite distance at a time. Piccolo, being its creator, however, can sense them much farther away due to his connection with them. "Seriously, he's been sitting like that for a half an hour now?"

"I guess it's gonna take as long as it takes, the universe is a pretty big place ya know?" He shrugs though Piccolo grumbles silently as the two's whispering bothers him.

"I'd be a lot more comfortable with that if Earth isn't going to blow up after every passing day." Admits Goten with a worried tone to his voice though he stays silent about his greater fear: that of his father dying before they can restore him to his proper age. While the Dragon Balls power is great, none of them can bring him back to life if he dies from old age, even an artificially caused one such as this. "Hold on dad, we'll get you help soon, I promise."

"I found one," Announces Piccolo to the two as he gets back on his feet. "Its a bit out of our way, but once you adjust the ships direction we should be able to get close enough for the Radar to pick up on it."

Trunks nods in understanding and the three walk out of their living quarters and make their way to the control console where he takes his place at the pilots seat. "Where did you feel its energy coming from?"

"Change the ships course about sixty more degrees to your right then keep going forward, if I'm right the Radar should be able to pick it up shortly." He instructs while putting his hand on the top of the seat, his senses focused on ensuring that he's not steering them in the wrong direction.

Trunks alters its course as per Piccolo's instruction and lets it keep flying forward after increasing its speed by a bit. He leans back in his seat and waits patiently for the Dragon Radar to start beeping with the others, his eyes never leaving it. They stand like that in complete silence, nervous that they may be losing time for nothing but also eager to collect the first of the Black Star Dragon Balls. They all sigh in relief as Piccolo's sense was proven correct by the beeping of the Dragon Radar built into the command console of the ship.

"Judging by its location in correlation to our own, it'll take us about 20 minutes to get to it," He turns his head to face Piccolo. "You didn't happen to get any idea of what kind of place this is, did you?"

"I got a few brief images of the place," He admits. "From what I could gather its a sandy place, possibly a desert planet with green-colored, sky. The ball itself appears to be in a junkyard. With any luck, we'll find it there and be off this planet in no time."

"You don't sound too convinced of that," Comments Goten upon hearing a change of tone in his voice about quickly getting off world. "You think we're gonna run into some trouble out there?"

"It's almost a certainty we will," Confirms Piccolo before crossing his arms. "When King Piccolo influenced the Namek's mind during the creation process, he made sure to put some extra insurance that his Dragon Balls could never be brought together and used against him."

"How much more insured can you get? I mean the guy programmed them to get sent out into space!" Asks Trunks.

"He made them seek out hostile planets as they scatter across the cosmos," He reveals. "Planets that have all sorts of dangerous environments or are inhabited by equally dangerous people or animals or a combination of it all. Every world has life forms with certain types of Ki signatures, so he made them seek out worlds that had beings with malicious ones."

"No offense Piccolo," Starts Trunks. "But your old man was  **not**  right in the head to make these things."

"Don't have to tell me-" The sudden shaking of their ship cuts him off as they all instinctively grab onto something in fear. "What is this?! Is there something wrong with the ship?!"

"No, but it might be something worse..." Replies Trunks as he points his finger at the window at the front of their vessel. The three of them look out and see several other, smaller spacecraft flying around them, causing theirs to shake uncontrollably. Their destination too comes into view along with three, city-sized ships circling around it.

"Maybe they're nice?" Suggest Goten.

"Almost every single alien we've ever come across has tried to kill us, destroy the Earth or both at some point." Replies Piccolo matter of factly. "I sincerely doubt it's going to change now."

"Hail visitors!" Says a cheerful, squeaky voice over the ship's radio to their surprise. "I sincerely apologize for the discomfort our fighter ships might've caused you! They can get a bit carried away from time to time. Good helps so hard to come by y'know?"

They listen to him laugh at himself with Piccolo wincing due to the high pitched, squeaky tone of it. "But in all seriousness, if you don't respond or turn around within the next 15 seconds we will blow up your ship and kill all on board."

The three travelers of Earth are taken back by the bluntness of his statement though ultimately, Goten opts to communicate with them and grabs the radio. "I'm so sorry for not respond sooner! Our communications systems have been causing us some trouble lately due to our engineer being kind of an idiot," He ignores the glare from Trunks and continues. "Good helps is hard to come by these days y'know?"

He laughs with the alien on the other end joining in as Piccolo and Trunks look on with annoyed looks on their faces. "If you don't mind me asking good sir, are we allowed to land on your planet or?"

"Oh no, no, no!" Declares the alien. "You have to land on one of our capital ships first where a search crew will examine your vessel and belongings. There are a lot of bad people out there and don't want them setting foot on our planet. I'm sure you understand our position."

"I understand perfectly," He replies with a polite tone to his voice. "Just tell us where we have to go for this search and we'll get there in no time."

"Judging by your ship's current position, I'd say you should head for the biggest of the three ships. There'll be a hatch to the left side of its mid section so you can land your ship there."

"Understood!" He agrees politely before putting the radio down, turns around and smiles at his friends. "There, all we need to do is let them check out the ship and we'll be down there in no time."

"I wish I was as optimistic as you kid." Piccolo thinks while staring at the gargantuan ship before him, growing ever more concerned with what's in it and the planet it's protecting below with each passing moment.

* * *

**Imecka Capital Cruiser**

"This truly is the most excruciatingly boring job I've had to suffer through." States an annoyed Ledgic with his hands behind his back as he stares out into the endless void of space from the hangar of the cruiser. All around him machines and Imeckian slaves alike all run back and forth to complete whatever task assigned to them. Ledgic has one too: being a glorified guard dog to lord Don Kee down below. His sole purpose being there to eliminate any external threats his regular forces cannot.

"By the names of my ancestors, why do I still hang around this miserable world?" He asks with his temper flaring when he hears a familiar pair of footsteps approach from behind. "Hello Gale, taking a break from licking Don Kee's boots I assume?"

"At least I'm not complaining about being paid a king's ransom every month like you." Counters Gale with an equally annoyed tone as he stares at small pad in his hands.

"New guests arriving?" He questions with Gale nodding in agreement.

"A small vessel, probably a crew of 3 or 4 people at most. Don't think I've ever seen a model like it which could mean trouble."

Ledgic chuckles at his statement, earning a confused look from the smaller, brown colored alien to his left. "Trouble? The only trouble on this Imecka is Don Kee accidentally losing one of his precious Gammet's beneath his fat behind."

"You should watch what you say Ledgic," Warns Gale with an added scowl. "Lord Don Kee is-"

"Is afraid of me," Interjects the larger alien bluntly. "He knows the scope of my power well enough to understand I could destroy this fleet and the planet it orbits with a single blast. Him paying me is the only thing keeping him alive," He glanced over to Gale. "A luxury you don't enjoy weakling."

Gulping in fear as his confidence and anger fade away, Gale opts to silence himself as the two sees the vessel landing a few feet away. Gale immediately runs over to it to greet the passengers and to put some distance between himself and Ledgic. Ledgic himself, however, pays them no attention and continues staring at the limitless cosmos outside the ship.

His peace is quickly interrupted by Gale returning to him and tugging the sleeve of his jacket. Ledgic sighs and glares at his "co-worker" with his temper rising before speaking. "What do you want?"

"It seems one of our new guests is a Namekian, not the strongest in the universe but I hear their species has bizarre powers." Admits Gale with a sliver of fear in his voice. "I'd like for you to be close if he or his guests try anything."

"A Namekian you say?" Asks Ledgic in surprise before turning his head and examining him from afar. "A genuine Namekian, I thought Freeza killed them along with himself when he destroyed their homeworld of Namek. Perhaps the rumors of their demise were greatly exaggerated, after all."

Then he notices something else that catches his interest more, a young man with a scabbarded sword in his hand. "And a swordsman as well?" He smirks at the sight and for the first time in a long time, feels happy about being on Imecka. "Very well Gale, I'll keep an eye on our new guests."

Gale lets out a relieved sigh and with a smile on his face walks back to the Earth group with Ledgic at his side as the robot search crew examines bot their ship and their belongings. "I trust our workers haven't done anything to upset you?"

"Oh no everything's fine!" States Goten in a friendly tone while Piccolo and Trunks keep an eye on the ship and the robots scanning it. "Besides, it's your house your rules."

"I'm glad to hear it young man!" Exclaims Gale with a laugh. "Then it should be no trouble for you to pay a tribute in the name of our wonderous lord Don Kee!"

Goten gives him a confused look before answering. "A tribute? You mean like... money?"

"Preferably money yes, however, if you have any other item of value it too can suffice!"

"Uhh guys," Says a worried Goten telepathically to his two traveling partners. "We might be in some trouble here."

"Not necessarily," Counters Trunks. "I mean sure we don't have any stuff to give, but I think we can get by just fine with our own money."

"Is everything alright?" Asks Gale upon noticing Goten's strange blank expression.

Ledgic, on the other hand, knows exactly what's going on and smirks. "So, they're capable of telepathically communicating with their energy, an ability not many are aware of in the universe."

"Oh sorry, I must've spaced out there for a second!" Chuckles Goten while rubbing the back of his head. "Sure, we have the money to pay for this tribute! How many Zeni will it take us to gain entry?"

"Uhm, Zeni?" Asks Gale with confused tone and look on his face to match it. "I've never heard of a Zeni before, is it the native currency of your planet?"

"Sure is, we got lots of it on my friends card."

"I see..." He states with his tone becoming a bit less friendly. "I'm afraid that we only accept widely well... accepted currencies, your Zeni is worthless to us. Perhaps there's something you can give us?"

"Uhh..." Goten contacts the others telepathically again. "Guys, a little help here?"

"Sorry man, but all we got is clothes, some food and water and not much else." Replies Trunks with a shrug.

"I wouldn't want to fight these guys either should it come to that." States Piccolo firmly. "These guys have slaves walking all over the hangar and from what I can hear the ship if we try to pick a fight it could get them all killed."

"If you're quite done spacing out again sir," Interjects Gale with an annoyed tone in his voice. "The tribute?"

"Well... you see... the thing is, we don't have anything worthwhile to give you guys." He says politely and nervously as the small, brown alien glares at him.

"That is unfortunate to hear, despite my machines reporting in that your vessel poses no threat to us, I cannot let you on Imecka without a proper tribute to Lord Don Kee."

"Now, now Gale," Interjects Ledgic with a smirk on his face. "Let's not be hasty here, weren't you the one who once told me that everyone has something of value to offer?"

"Clearly not, in this case." He counters, not liking that a guard dog like Ledgic is meddling in his affairs.

"Really?" Asks Ledgic with a phoney surprised look on his face. "Because I see something valuable right there." The mercenary points his finger towards Trunks, specifically his sword. "That blade right there is worth quite a lot."

"And you know this how?"

"Please Gale, I've spent the past 30 years traveling the cosmos and I know a blade of Konats when I see one." He states, earning the attention of Trunks. "The blades of Konats are magically enhanced, their cutting power and durability are beyond most other weapons."

"Both of which can be made stronger by putting Ki into the sword." States Trunks with Ledgic nodding in agreement. "If you don't mind me asking Mister Ledgic, how do you know about my sword so much?"

"My master had one just like it though Freeza destroyed it when he murdered him during their duel. Though not before he cut the bastards tail off. Truth be told, I've been looking to find another like it for many years now."

Trunks and the others immediately realize Ledgic's intention and the young Saiyan hybrid immediately raises his guard up. The sword in his hand was given to him by his friend Tapion after Goku and Gohan killed Hirudegarn all those years ago, and he is not about to let anyone just take it without a fight.

"Ledgic!" Exclaims Gale while pointing his finger furiously at the mercenary. "I know what you're doing and you will not take Lord Don Kee's tribute away from him!" He soon regrets his outburst as Ledgic turns his head and scowls at him with his power rapidly spiking up. While Gale gulps in fear of his look alone, the warriors of Earth gain a brief taste of his true power.

"His powers above Freeza's at least," Says Piccolo to the two hybrids telepathically. "Doesn't look like he could take me in a fight if that's all he's got, but still, we'd do well to be careful with him. He could have some transformation or ability to increase his power."

"Your memory's failing you old man," States Ledgic to Gale. "Didn't I just tell you who's really in charge of things on this planet?" Gale reluctantly nods with Ledgic smirking. "Good, but be sure to remember it this time. I don't like repeating myself."

The mercenary turns to face Trunks. "Now then, onto the matter of that sword, I believe I have a proposition that would please both parties despite the outcome."

"Which is?" Questions Piccolo.

"A duel between me, and this young man," He states to the surprise of the others. "On my world, swordsmen may lay claim to another blade but can only win it through a fair and proper duel. If the boy wins, he can keep his sword and you three can go to Imecka without further delay."

"And if I lose you get my sword and we're getting kicked off the ship?" Asks Trunks expecting a bad end scenario for them should he lose.

"I get your sword yes, but I will still allow you to go down to Imecka all the same." The three Earthlings give him surprised looks, Gale wants to speak up but he doesn't want to push his luck after angering Ledgic. "So, what do you say?"

"Why would you still let us go down there?" Inquires Trunks with Ledgic chuckling in response.

"Do you have any idea how horribly boring it is on this planet? The very fact I've found someone capable of challenging me for the first time in years is reason enough for me to be kind to a potentially worthy adversary such as yourself. Besides," He glances over to Gale. "It would annoy this one and his annoying master to no end, and I find that endlessly entertaining."

He extends his hand outward to Trunks and gives him a friendly smile. "What do you say boy? Care to indulge a bored warrior in a good fight for once?"

Trunks looks at his hand in a mix of excitement and fear. While he has practiced with his sword to the best of his abilities, he has never fought another opponent even remotely like Ledgic. Yet the challenge still excites him, the prospect of dueling another interested in the blade such as himself. No doubt a side effect of the Saiyan blood coursing through his veins.

With an equally friendly smile, Trunks takes his hand and shakes it. "Let's do this."


	6. Wake Up Call

"So, how do we do this?" Questions Trunks as he stands opposite of Ledgic in the white colored, circular shaped training room of his alien challenger located near the center of the vessel. Outside, Piccolo, Goten, and Gale observe them via a set of camera's from the safety of a lounge located nearby where machines serve them food and drinks at the behest of Ledgic.

"The rules are quite simple, first," He raises one finger. "Neither combatants can resort to any transformations or power increasing techniques they may have. Your standard power level is the only one allowed in the fight, second," He raises another finger. "No energy based attacks are allowed, same applies to punches, kicks or any other physical attacks not done by the sword. If either of us does these, however, we are given penalties, should we accumulate 3 of these then we lose the match."

"And how do we go about winning?"

"Its quite simple, the first one to cut his opponent thrice or knock his sword out of his hands in the same amount is the one who wins the duel."

"So we can cut each other anywhere?" Asks Trunks as he has no intention of losing any body parts in this fight or wasting precious Senzu to recover them should the need arise.

Ledgic chuckles. "Within reason, decapitating attacks that can cost you a limb or any body part were par for the course back in the old times, but now only minor flesh wounds are allowed. It is also the obligation of the challenger to provide medical aid to his combatant upon the completion of the duel. So relax boy, and focus more on the battle at hand instead of worrying about what  **might**  happen to you."

With the rules out of the way, Ledgic raises his hand to a spike protruding out of his shoulder and rips it off. It begins to glow as it transforms into a curve bladed sword in his right hand. He goes into his fighting stance, firstly by planting his feet about a foot apart and places his sword above his head, pointing it sideways. "Ready?"

Trunks smirks before unsheathing his blade from the scabbard on his back and takes it in both hands before spreading his legs about a foot apart and placing his sword at a sixty-degree angle with the blade pointed downward. "Ready."

Without a moment's hesitation, Ledgic immediately strikes first as he appears before Trunks with his sword coming at the hybrid from the side with a slash. Trunks' momentary surprise quickly fades away as he ducks under the blade and jumps backward to put distance between himself and Ledgic. Deciding to take a defensive approach, Trunks opts to block the flurry of thrusts and slashes aimed at him. "He seems pretty fast from the looks of it, but I shouldn't have any problems blocking his attacks."

"Coming up with some brilliant strategy boy?" Asks Ledgic with a smirk on his face.

"Maybe," Is the only thing Trunks says before swinging his sword upon noticing Ledgic's next thrust and succeeds in temporarily knocking his blade away, breaking the rhythm of his attacks before raising his sword above his head. With a yell, Trunks bring his sword down onto the alien mercenary though his target backflips away and manages to cut a piece of his hair off in the process. "I didn't even see that one coming, as I suspected, he's gauging my abilities too."

"Here's a bit of advice for you boy," States Ledgic before resting his sword casually on his shoulder. "Try not to jam your sword into place where it might be hard to pull it out from, against worthless henchman it's not much of an issue. But in a duel like this where your sword is your life, it's borderline suicide."

Giving the alien mercenary a confused look, Trunks pulls his sword upward and realizes what he meant as it takes him a couple of seconds to pull it out and raise his guard up properly. "Ledgic's right, if I was fighting someone like Ledgic was trying to kill me, that opening would've been enough for them to take my head off."

"Here's another one," Says Ledgic as he appears behind him and cuts into his shoulder. "Try not to overthink things in a pitched battle."

Trunks winces in pain and instinctively grabs the bleeding wound before jumping away from Ledgic. Despite his injury, he lets out a nervous chuckle at the mercenary. "Yeah I was kind of asking for that one, but trust me, you won't get another opening like that."

"Hmph," Scoffs Ledgic before getting back into his fighting pose. "Talks cheap boy."

Trunk places both of his hands on his sword once more and meets Ledgic head one as the two lock blades before the latter breaks it off by pushing his younger adversary away. He attacks Trunks with a quick succession of weak, but fast overhead strikes before slashing at him at the side. Trunks grinds his teeth in anger as he struggles to block his attacks, let alone find an opening to counter attack. He manages to roll away from Ledgic though the mercenary slashes his sword upward and almost manages to cut his forehead.

Trunks returns to his feet though Ledgic gives him no room to breath as he appears again behind him though this time he's ready for it and manages to block it by placing his sword behind his back. Instinctively, Trunks clenches his fist and goes to backhand his enemy when Ledgic catches it effortlessly.

"If you want to be a serious swordsman boy, I suggest you leave moves like this one out of your repertoire for duels." States Ledgic firmly before throwing Trunks up into the air and kicks him to the other side of the room, into a wall.

The young man gasps for air and gets back to his feet and scowls at the mercenary. "I thought you said those moves should be left out?!"

"They should be," Replies Ledgic while walking towards him. "But considering the fact you're on the edge of defeat already, I thought this self-inflicted penalty might incentivize you a bit."

"Damn it," He mutters before putting his guard up. "This would be so much easier if I could transform."

"It probably would be, transformations are quite useful as I can attest." Says Ledgic before charging at Trunks and putting him into another blade lock. "But raw power is not enough boy, any idiot can throw around punches and blasts, but only someone with refined skill can wield a sword."

"Heh," Chuckles Trunks with a smirk. "My dad would say otherwise."

"My point exactly." He says before breaking the blade lock by forcing Trunks back into the wall, the young man narrowly evades his blade as it cuts into the wall before he dashing at him. Trunks awkwardly blocks and evades them though he feels Ledgic's sword swings cut into his clothing. Despite his best efforts to try and muster a counter attack, the speed and power of his enemies attack leaves him purely on the defensive. He starts panting for air and can feel his arms growing weaker from the strain.

"Dad was right... " He thinks to himself before ducking under another one of Ledgic's attacks. "I've gotten too out of shape, the old me could've taken on Ledgic no problem... even my prep training with him and Piccolo wasn't enough... Without Super Saiyan, I'm totally useless..."

"Don't give up now boy, I've only just begun to fight," States a confident Ledgic before almost knocking Trunks' sword out of his hands. "I know you've got more power in you than this."

"Yeah... I do..." He answers him reluctantly but honestly. "But I can't use it without breaking another one of your rules, and even if you did bend them for me, I'm not so sure I'd so it."

"Why is that?" He asks before resting his sword over his shoulder.

"For the longest time, my ability to tap into this great power always seemed enough for me," Says Trunks without letting his guard down. "Even as a kid when I was training with my dad, I always used it as a crutch, an easy way out of any problem I had. Even after I stopped doing what little training I did up until that point, I just assumed it'd be enough."

"And now you realize the folly of this?"

Trunks nods before continuing. "Exactly, I was confident enough that I could beat you even without transforming. But this battles opened my eyes, for the first time in my life I've realized just how unlucky I've been to get that kind of power as a kid. Because of it, I never had to work hard to attain it like my friends and own father had to. It's made me lazy, sloppy and even arrogant to the point where I was confident enough that fighting dumb training robots would be enough to beat a master swordsman like you..."

He starts lowering his sword and letting his guard down in the process. "You should take this, I'm obviously not worthy of it."

"Not as you are now no," He points his sword at Trunks. "However, I will not take your sword this way. You will come at me with everything you've got left, lose with the dignity that all warriors like us should and one day, you  **will**  reclaim your blade from me. I will eagerly await for that day to come boy."

Trunks gives the mercenary a surprised look before smiling and nodding in understanding before readying his sword. His aura starts flaring up and covers his body in a white glow as he roars with it. Ledgic does the same with his green aura engulfing him as well. The two quickly finish with the raising of their power levels until they're about even and clench their swords tightly before charging at each other.

Trunks expects to be cut by Ledgic after his own blade narrowly misses him, however, his opponents sword vanishes from view revealing itself to be an after image. Before he knows it, a sharp pain in the back of his head sends him crashing face first into the ground. He immediately starts rubbing the area of impact and turns to Ledgic. "What was that?!"

"I hit you with the handle of my sword, of course. " He tells him nonchalantly with Trunks glaring in disbelief. "What? The handle is a part of your sword, therefore it counts."

"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME IT COUNTED!" Yells Trunks in barely contained rage.

"I didn't think it was worth pointing out as it seems like a pretty obvious thing to know. Besides, would it have really made a difference?"

"I... guess not." He reluctantly states with his anger subsiding as he gets back on his feet, his sword in hand. He puts it back into its scabbard and hand it over to Ledgic. "A deal's a deal I guess."

"Indeed." States Ledgic before taking the sword and quickly examining in. "This will make an excellent addition to my arsenal of weaponry. Until the day you defeat me and take it back that is."

"I appreciate the vote of confidence Mister Ledgic," He states with a chuckle. "I just wish I had another sword to use in the meantime."

"I can arrange that for you if you want, Imecka's gathered a decent collection of arms dealers who happen to sell swords much like this one. With some credits provided by me, you'll be able to purchase a fine new one to take this one's place."

"You'd really do that?" Asks Trunks, surprised by the mercenaries continued generosity.

"Not like I have anything else to use that money for on this rock." He tells him with annoyed tone to his voice, prompting Trunks to chuckle as the two walk out of the room and back to the hangar.

As he makes his way back there to meet back with his group, Trunks smiles. He had thought losing the sword to Ledgic would be devastating to him, and in some ways it is. But now, for the first time ever in his life, a drive he has not felt before has awoken. A genuine, personal drive to better himself both as a warrior and a person. But first things first, the Black Star Dragon Ball still lies waiting somewhere on Imecka, and he intends to find it no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not quite as epic as I thought it would turn out to be, but I'm quite pleased with where Trunks was left at the end of this. With this out of the way, expect a little more light heard shenanigans on Imecka before the group butts heads again with Ledgic.


	7. Trouble On Imecka

"I already don't like this place." Says Piccolo as he, Goten and Trunks stand atop one of the many landing pads intended for interstellar visitors to Imecka and gaze out into the wasteland before them. Bar the humble shanty town to their left along with a luxurious palace at the very end of it, the entire planet is a desert-like wasteland with nothing but sand and scorpion-like creatures going on for miles. Coupled with the sun shining brightly down on all beneath it, and they realize just why Ledgic had warned them to not wander out of the city limits.

"I thought you'd be used to placed like this Piccolo," Counters Goten with a smirk. "Don't you practically live in places like this?"

"Not if there isn't a water source nearby and I can tell just by looking around that you'd have a better chance of finding a dead man's skeleton here than water." He says with an annoyed tone in his voice though Goten simply chuckles at this.

"Never thought I'd see you scared like this Piccolo." Jokes Goten with a smile on his face, Piccolo shoots daggers at him before turning his attention back to the desert.

"Let's just grab what we came here for and get out fast."

"Hold on," Interjects Trunks. "I still need to go to the market and get that sword from that shop Ledgic told me about."

"Tell ya what kid, you give me the Dragon Radar and I'll go find the Ball while you two take care of the sword, deal?"

Trunks smiles before taking the Radar out of his pocket and tossing it over to Piccolo. "Deal, oh and don't forget to take a drink of water out there, you're already looking kinda dehydrated there."

"What?!" Yells Piccolo as the two young hybrids laugh at his outbursts and jump into the air towards the shanty town. Piccolo snarls angrily and glares at them until they finally disappear into the crowd. He lets out a sigh and manages to quickly composes himself. "Be careful you two, the deserts not the only thing that worries me about this place." He glances over to the short, blue-skinned and pointy-eared slaves aiding the robots in properly taking in their vessel before taking flight into the vast, Imeckian desert awaiting him.

* * *

"And then he let them down to your world sire! Without handing over the tribute he won in the duel might I add!" Proclaims an angry Gale over the computer screen positioned to Don Kee's left as he chows down on a large dish of jelly-like food before him. Seemingly ignoring him, the lord of Imecka merely continues eating before grabbing a small dinner bell and ringing it.

"His greatness Lord Don Kee demands another jelly-sandwich immediately!" Says the pampered Lord with a formal, yet high-pitched voice as one of his slaves opens the door and quietly puts the plate in front of him before leaving as quickly as she came in. "I would offer you one Gale but you're kind of in space right now."

"Sire, we are facing a grave problem here! One that has been growing for a long time now and-"

"And we can do nothing about it Gale!" Interjects Don Kee with a wave of his hand before gobbling up the sandwich and ringing immediately for another. "There was a time I genuinely thought I could control Ledgic but in truth, I'm merely a hostage who happens to write him his paychecks. So far, it's been quite mutually beneficial."

"So far," Emphasizes Gale as Don Kee rings his bell again, same as before, the servant girl enters the room and puts the sandwich before him before bowing and leaving again. "But surely there is a limit to it!

"Oh please Gale, there's no such thing as a limit to a good thing my friend! To think otherwise is simply foolish!" In a matter of seconds, he eats the third sandwich before ringing his bell again for another.

"If I didn't have the displeasure of monitoring the entire ship I'd agree with you, but I fear this duel of his may have stirred something in him. A desire for battle."

"What makes you say that?" Asks Don Kee before chowing down on the sandwich.

"For the past few months now, I've noticed him becoming increasingly agitated and bored. Those practice drones we installed on the ship were able to keep his satiated for a time. But he quickly became bored with them, it wasn't until after his duel with this Trunks that I saw the same pleased look on his face as they day he received the drones! He is a warrior sire! And all warriors crave battle, above all else, even money!"

Don Kee lets out a chuckle upon finishing the sandwich before ringing for another and looks directly at the computer screen. "Oh believe me Gale, Ledgic wouldn't do that. Despite his profession being that of a mercenary, Ledgic outright refused to kill any innocents even indirectly. His code of conduct even went so far that he only targeted people he knew were completely deplorable, nothing less worked for him."

"Not to imply anything sire," Says Gale with hesitation in his voice. "But there are many who would consider you such a man, why would he accept pay from you if his code dictated otherwise?"

"Its quite simple," He says with a smirk as the girl places the fourth sandwich in front of him. "Ledgic's master, the one who made him the warrior he is today died at the hands of Freeza. Ledgic swore revenge of course, and if Freeza were still alive he would probably beat him quite easily. He spent 7 years training and hunting him too. But if the rumors are true, someone else killed Freeza first."

"As I recall it was a... Super Saiyan I think?"

"That's what I heard too, among other things like him being 90 feet tall with golden fur all over his body and named Kaka something. Regardless, when Ledgic learned of this he was absolutely livid." He says before eating the sandwich and ringing for another. "For the next 20 years, he relentlessly hunted this Super Saiyan, losing more and more control of himself as each day passed before he snapped."

The servant girl placed the fifth before him. "After his last hope turned out to be the latest of a decade-long series of dead ends, Ledgic's spirit was completely broken, his one goal in life snatched from him and for a few years he wandered the cosmos a worthless husk of his former self."

"I didn't know any of this..." States Gale as he starts feeling some shred of sympathy for his most hated colleague.

"Neither did I until some investigators of mine dug it all up," Admits Don Kee. "Then 5 years ago his warrior instincts returned when he saved me from a group of assassins during an off-world meeting. He didn't know of me then, of course, if he did he surely would've let them cut me down. Two days later I offered him his current position, the rest you can safely figure out."

"Most of it yes," Ponders Gale before asking again. "But I still don't see why he would stick around here, wouldn't he leave almost immediately after seeing our slaves? Wouldn't that disgust him too much?"

"What else can he do?" Counters Don Kee. "Even if he wanted to go back out there and return to fighting, none of it could replace the void left behind by his revenge being snatched away from him. Even if he wants to help them, he's still too broken to make himself care enough to do anything about it. So he's decided that if he's going to waste away, might as well waste away in relative comfort."

"And his sparring matches with the drones are there merely to curb any need for battle he might still have." Concludes Gale with Don Kee nodding in agreement. "Still, surely you must have some safeguards in place if he does decide to try something?"

"I wouldn't be the horribly rich man I am today if I didn't," Says Don Kee with a cruel smirk on his face. "Believe me Gale, if Ledgic ever did decide to stop feeling sorry for himself over the Super Saiyan and to go after me, it would end very badly for the poor people of Imecka."

Raising an eyebrow as to what Don Kee means, he sees his master eat the fourth sandwich before ringing for another. "If I may ask sire, why do you eat them like that?"

"One at a time you mean?" Don Kee questions with Gale nodding. "Another easy question Gale," with a smirk he watches the same slave girl bring him yet another sandwich. "Because I can."

* * *

"I'm starting to see why Piccolo doesn't like deserts." Says an exasperated Goten as he and Trunks fight through the massive crowd of people gathered in the planets shanty town. The two try their best to progress towards the sword shop but with the dozens of people completely boxing them in coupled with the scorching sun above them leaves the two tired and cranky. "How much farther is this place?

"Ledgic said it was somewhere near the center of town. Look for any building with a big row of swords painted on top of it." He tells him before being smushed in the middle of a large group of aliens interested in a nearby spice rack. "That's it, we're going airborne Goten."

"Ha! What happened to soaking in the fascinating alien culture?" Questions Goten with a smirk as the two levitate slightly above the crowd and start looking around for the shop.

"I'll soak in the fascinating culture when it's not choking me to death." The two keep on levitating for a short while with their heads darting left and right to make sure they don't miss it. A smile forms on Trunks' face when he finally lays eyes on the shop and quickly flies towards it. "C'mon Goten! Its over here!"

The two quickly make their way to the ship, and after some more pushing manage to enter it. The cold air immediately puts them at ease from the scorching sun outside and the two take a minute to enjoy it while it lasts.

"You two look like you just got out of a near-death experience." Says an older Imeckain man with a white beard and a friendly smile on his face. "Let me guess, was it the crowd or the sun?"

The two hybrids glance at each other before saying in unison. "Both."

"That's usually how it goes here on Imecka, first time visiting I assume?"

"Yes sir, in fact it's our first time going to space," Says Goten politely with the older Imeckain nodding in understanding.

"Well then I hope as your first potential purchase during your trip I can give you something worthwhile. What're you having?"

Trunks steps towards the counter with Goten not far behind. "I'm looking for a sword, specifically one capable of having Ki run through it, I was told by reliable source that you sell swords like that here."

"Your source is correct young man," Confirms the shop keeper. "I do indeed have a small selection of such weaponry with me, just gimme a second to get em out."

The shopkeeper crouches down beneath the counter and with some difficulty, places a large box onto it causing some of the accumulated sand and dust on it to hit the two boys. "Ah, sorry about that fellas, it's been a while since I've had to bring these puppies out. Usually, no one requests for these types of weapons."

"Why's that?" Asks Trunks.

"Everyone wants blasters or rocket launchers or the sandstorm launcher-"

The two give him puzzled looks upon hearing that last one. "Whats a sandstorm launcher?"

"Some experimental weapon I've got stored in the back," Says the old man disinterestedly. "Apparently it's capable of covering an entire battlefield inside of a massive sandstorm although I doubt it works for anything."

"Could I... see it?" Asks Goten with some hesitation after noticing the man's disdain for gimmicky weaponry, following a glare and a sigh, the shopkeep nods and walks into the back. Meanwhile, Trunks decides to help himself to the few swords placed inside the crate and swings them around to get a feel for them. One is a curved blade similar to Ledgic's, the one after it a two handed blade twice as long and twice as heavier as his previous one, he even tries his hand at a pair of smaller blades but none of them feel right.

The last of the swords, the one most similar to the one given to him by Tapion over a decade ago fits him like a glove. He effortlessly swings it around the shop without damaging anything as if he were wielding his old sword and smiles. "This is the one."

Goten and the shopkeep return from the back of the store with a large rifle in the formers hands. "This is gonna be awesome!"

"Why would we buy a gun that makes desert storms?" Questions Trunks.

"Trunks, Trunks, Trunks," Says Goten with a disappointed tone in his voice. "Sitting in that board room's killed your sense of fun man, how can we **not** buy a desert making gun?"

Taking a second to ponder his friends request, on one hand they can both destroy entire planets as if they were nothing. Then again, the very reason they're here is so Trunks can purchase a weapon, plus from a engineering point of view he can't resist seeing if the thing can actually do what its purported of being capable of. "Okay, we'll take it, as long as it's not too expensive."

"Take it for free, the damn things been scaring me ever since I got my hands on it," Grumbles the shopkeep as he puts the swords back into the crate.

"I thought you didn't think it worked?" Questions Trunks.

"Mostly, but in the off chance it did the damn thing would've destroyed my shop if it went off. No offense boys, but better you than me."

"Yes!" Exclaims Goten with the same child-like face his father makes when he's excited. "This is gonna be amazing! I can't wait to fire this bad boy!"

"Like I said, fire it anywhere but here," Says the shopkeep before noticing Trunks place one of his swords onto the counter. "So, you're going with that one? A bit modest wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah I guess," He chuckles. "But I'm used to ones like it and I wanna get my training back on track as soon as possible! Taking a different sword would only set me back ya know?"

The shopkeeper gives him an affirmative nod. "That'll cost you 2000 Gammets."

Reaching into a large bag of money from a pocket inside his jacket, he takes out a bundle of tied together bills and puts them onto the counter. "That should cover the sword I think."

The shopkeeper takes the bundle of money with a surprised look on his face and quickly goes through all the bills to see if everything's alright with the money. "How much of these do you have? If you don't mind me asking?"

"A little over 8000 I think, minus the two grand I just gave you."

The shopkeep gives him another surprised look. "I think it would be best you didn't flaunt that money around son, the merchants and sellers on this planet are animals. If they catch you carrying around that much money, they'll be on you like hungry animals over a carcase. I've seen people get trampled over out there because they couldn't keep their money in their wallets."

An uproar from the crowd gathered outside interrupts them and catches their attention with the shopkeep sighing before putting away the money given to him by Trunks. "I was hoping they'd miss this round."

"Round of what?" Asks Goten.

"Every week on this day, slavers from all over the galaxy show up to sell more poor souls to those dogs out there. They haul them into the middle of town and hold a special auction for them with everyone going there like it's the sports event of the century."

"How is slavery still allowed in space faring societies?" Asks Trunks in disbelief.

"It isn't back in the more civilized parts," Admits the keeper. "But out on the fringes? The law isn't exactly worth much out here, unfortunately, damn shame too. With Freeza gone and his planet selling scum being destroyed, people thought things were gonna get better around these parts."

The two Earthlings give each other knowing looks before rushing out of the store to see this "spectacle" for themselves. The ever present crowd from before has seemingly grown even greater, their screams of joy and anticipation making things feel even more claustrophobic for the two than before. As the shop owner said, on top of a large wooden stage located near the center of the city, a wealthy looking tentacle alien stands with several canes in his hands with 5 young looking slaves behind him.

"Ladies, gentlemen and fellow entrepreneurs of Imecka!" Proclaims the alien proudly. "It's that time of the week again! And as always, I've a fine selection of capable, fit and even moderately intelligent merchandise for your purchasing pleasure!"

The gathered crowd erupts in cheers once again, save for Goten and Trunks who glare at the alien and ready themselves to take action when suddenly they hear a loud alarm noise from above. Just as soon as the crowd had gathered, they immediately dispersed as several drones along with Imeckian ground Forces surround the two Earthlings much to their surprise.

"Humans of Earth," Proclaims one Imeckian soldier with several medals on his chest, no doubt the commander. "You are hereby under arrest! Surrender now and you will be judged fairly!"

"Under arrest?!" Exclaims Goten. "But we didn't even do anything! Well we were but you guys interrupted us."

"You are under arrest due to your accomplice stealing the property of our lord Don Kee!"

The two give each other confused looks. "Wait, **Piccolo's** the one who got us into trouble?!"

* * *

**A few minutes prior, Imeckian Wastelands**

"Just a little bit further," Thinks Piccolo to himself as he flies at his top speed across the vast and seemingly endless desert of Imecka while occasionally glancing at the Dragon Radar in his hand. His white aura blazing through the sky and leaving a white trail behind him as he wishes to find the first Black Star Dragon Ball as quickly as possible.

Though he tries not to show it to the others, a profound sense of guilt eats away at him. Guilt that like his first encounter with Cell, his hesitation to act has caused trouble for the Earth. The same world he's helped save so many times, now stands on the brink of destruction yet again thanks to him not being more careful. To say nothing of what may happen to Goku because of it.

His small introspection is interrupted when his sharp hearing picks up on something nearby. A robotic voice nearby seemingly commenting on him. "The energy signature is emanating in this direction!"

Not wanting to cause any trouble that may delay their departure from Imecka, Piccolo spots a small rock formation nearby and descends towards it. He hides behind it and drops his power level to near absolute zero with his ears constantly keeping track of the robotic voice. He can hear the drone in the sky above him, looking around all over for him with its body clanking with each movement.

Just as soon as it appeared, the drone vanishes, right in the direction of the Black Star Dragon Ball. He narrows his eyes and clenches his fist as he is in mood for anything standing in his way, now that he's so close to his objective. "Guess its time to take a page out of Cell's play book."

Deciding that he has no intention of causing an incident or letting the drones stand in his way. Piccolo resorts to keep his power level at a minimum while using his pure, physical might to leap into the air towards the Black Star. Cell had done a similar tactic when he was busy absorbing humans across the Earth over 20 years ago, and to great effect. Despite disliking the fact he's resorting to use the attack of that monster, Piccolo rushes towards his objective regardless.

In no time he arrives at a great chasm seemingly hundreds of feet deep as the very light from the sun itself fails to illuminate its bottom. Nearby, dozens of drones and soldiers with jet packs fly both in and out of the chasm, it doesn't take Piccolo too long to figure out why. "So, some one must've either seen or sensed the approach of the Dragon Ball, must've been Don Kee to. He's the guy who owns all these flying scrap heaps."

He takes a closer look at one of the soldiers and recognizes something he has not seen for a long time. "A scouter, that's how they sensed my Ki signature and the Dragon Balls. Still, I can use this to my advantage."

With a smirk, he starts gathering energy in the palm of his hand with electric sparks forming around it. He can already hear the scouter's of the soldiers and drones go off and promptly fires a Ki blast at a rock formation a decent distance away from the chasm. Its instantly destroyed by the blast as its engulfed in a bright white light with Piccolo immediately dropping his own power level back down to hide his presence. He patiently waits for them to leave then jumps into the chasm with the Radar beeping louder and more frequently as he levitates closer to the Ball.

A pleased grin forms on his face as he finally lays eyes on the Black Star Dragon Ball with two stars adorned with it. Without a moment's hesitation, he snatches it out of a small crack in the wall holding it in place and turns around to leave when he hears a loud grumbling noise. "What the-"

A gargantuan rock worm jumps out of the wall and devours Piccolo before the Namekian can evade it. The creature, nearly 30 feet long bursts out into the surface from within the chasm with a loud roar to accompany it. It squirms back and forth as the drones and soldiers return to the site to engage the creature when it suddenly explodes into a million bloody pieces from the inside out. It's green, slime like insides not only cover the soldiers and drones, along with the entire nearby area.

In the epicenter of it is Piccolo, covered from head to toe in the slime of the creature but unharmed regardless. He angrily wipes it off his face and wishes he could find some place to take a bath when he notices the others targetting him. "So much for sneaking away."

"Namekian! You are in possession of an artifact belonging to the great, and mighty Lord Don Kee of Imecka! Return it now and you won't be harmed!"

Piccolo chuckles at the threat and crosses his arms confidently. "Unless you and your men here have a gun capable of blowing up a planet, you can't hurt me. So how about this, you let me take what rightfully belongs to **me** , and you can go back to your homes in one piece."

They simply cock their guns and ready to fire on him. "Last chance Namekian. Hand. It. Over."

Piccolo merely lets out a sigh before quickly increasing his power level back up, his aura flares just enough for every scouter present to start beeping madly as they try to keep up with the rise. However, it's too much for their systems and the devices all shatter within seconds. While the Imeckain's still have their natural eyes, the drones are effectively left blinded as they start panicking and flying around without rhyme or reason. Some even crashing into each other.

"And now to blind the rest of you," States Piccolo while rising slightly above his previous position before placing his hands close to the center of his face with his fingers spread towards his eyes. "Solar flare!"


	8. Public Enemies

"Last chance Earthlings!" Yells the commander of the Imeckian forces as his men and drones surround both Trunks and Goten near the weapons store. The two boys don't flinch at all despite the dozens of guns pointed at them and merely give him cold, determined looks. "Fine, if that's how you want it. FIRE!"

Not wanting to let the weapons owners store get demolished because of them, Trunks steps forward and raises his hands up in the air. Just before the blaster bolts and rockets impact, he forms a large, blue-colored bubble shield of Ki energy around himself, Goten, and the shop. The Imeckian's are taken back by this development as they expected to kill them swiftly, regardless, they soon continued firing though it does no damage to the shield.

"Goten!" Yells Trunks to his friend who nods in understanding before dropping the sandstorm launcher and aiming his hands at their attackers. A flurry of Ki blasts erupt from his open palms, the larger ones utterly destroying the machines. The smaller ones meanwhile, are aimed at the soldiers rifles, quickly melting their barrels in the process.

"Nice work!" States Trunks with a smile before lowering the shield and narrowing his eyes at the Imeckian soldiers now frightened and gulping after witnessing their power. "Now let's get out of here and find Piccolo!"

"Right!" Says Goten with a nod before the two fly into the air and head towards their Namekian friend. An easy task as he makes attempt to hide his Ki signature out in the wilderness. "I wonder what Piccolo did to set them off like that."

"Beats me, but I'm sure he had good reason to do it," Answers Trunks before a pleased smile forms on his face. "Plus it'll be sweet making fun of him for it."

"Oh I know," Says Goten with an equally pleased look on his face. "Its not every day you get to berate Piccolo of all people-"

Suddenly, the two hear a loud rumbling going on beneath the ground followed by an unmistakable voice not too far off from them yell. "Will you stop trying to eat me already?!"

The two give each other surprised glances before upping the speed of their flying when they see a glorious sight before them. Piccolo, hovering in the air and avoiding an entire swarm of rock worm creatures swirling in and out of the ground trying to eat him while he fights them off with blasts and kicks. He reminds them of a grumpy old man trying swat away a fly they used to laugh at all the time as children. A sight only made more funny by him being covered from head to toe in some slime. They burst out laughing at him knowing he's most certainly not in any real danger.

Nearby, Piccolo hears them two of them and his temper immediately explodes as he roars and unleashes a massive explosion of Ki with himself in the center of it, utterly obliterating the rock worm swarm. With them seemingly gone for the moment, Piccolo turns to the two giggling hybrids and narrows his eyes at them. "If either of you tell  **anyone**  about this, I will throw you both into the nearest sun!"

The two just barely manage to keep they're laughing in control. "Y-yes sir! Oh! Great worm tamer Piccolo!"

Piccolo continues glaring at them before letting out a sigh and crossing his arms. "Well, at least I won't live long enough to suffer everyone's jabs about this..." He thinks to himself before hearing robotic voices off in the distance. "Enough messing around! We've got more robots on the way!"

Trunks and Goten both stop laughing immediately upon hearing then with the former speaking up first. "We passed a bunch of giant rock formations on the way here, maybe we can hide out in there?"

"Going back to towns out of the question, the place is probably swarming with even more soldiers now." Says Trunks with Piccolo nodding, agreeing with this as the three flying towards the rock formation to plan out their next move.

* * *

High above the desert streets of Imecka's shanty town and its recent trouble, Ledgic returns to the ships training room eager to test out his new sword. Around him, a group of 8 training drones are assembled and quickly armed with all manner of blades and combinations of them. Some large, others small, a couple with two all of them created for the purpose of cutting Ledgic down. The seven feet tall, red-eyed drones waste no time in carefully walking towards their target while he enters his fighting pose.

He channels his Ki into the blade, giving it a green glow and waits patiently for them to strike first. His wait is very brief as the drone with dual blades strikes first with overhead slashes. Ledgic effortlessly blocks his attack and sends the drone plummeting to the ground by striking with the handle of his sword. Behind him, two drones wielding single blades jab forward with Ledgic jumping into the air and landing behind them to avoid their attack.

Before either can respond he cuts their heads off though the drones continue to operate without them. Their torsos spin around and continue launching strike after strike at Ledgic who merely smirks at their efforts before cutting their swords, and bodies in half with a pair of quick slices. The other drones opt a more tactical approach for their next assault.

The ones in the back opt to stay there and pull out twin turrets out of their backs while the ones wielding both two-handed and dual swords attack him head on. Ledgic blocks their barrage of blaster fire and with some extra effort, manages to send some bolts back at the drones, destroying their turrets in the process.

The drones attacking at the front don't do much better as the mercenary casually blocks and evades their sword swings before slicing them into tiny pieces with a lightning fast series of swings. Not wanting to bother with them, he opts to telekinetically pull them towards himself and carves them into pieces.

Ledgic lets out a sigh and places Tapion's sword back into the scabbard in his left hand when he hears someone clap. "Lord Don Kee, I didn't know you were watching."

He turns around to face his "master" as he appears before him via a small drone with a screen making up most of his body. "I didn't want to interrupt you, especially since you seemed very eager to test the abilities of your new sword."

"Indeed I was, and I still am," He replies with an event tone before crossing his arms and turning to face his employer. "Its a pity I've no one here to properly test it out on. Not anymore at least."

"Ah but that's where you're wrong," Says Don Kee with a smirk on his face with Ledgic narrowing his eyes at him. "For you see, those new arrivals of ours from whom you took that sword have caused some... trouble down on Imecka. They stole something of interest to me and no doubt they'll attack me as well."

"Why is that?"

"Because I've ordered my men to take their ship over to the castle where it can be properly protected. Which means they'll be coming after me and I want a trap to be laid for them when they do."

Ledgic lets out a chuckle. "And you want me to be the center point of your trap."

"Is that a problem? Surely a warrior of your caliber could handle these criminals. Especially since you so handily defeated one of them already."

"Yes... in his base power, how strong he is in that transformed state he mentioned to me is what could tip the scale of the fight into his favor. Then there's the Namekian, if he's one of their magicians his powers could pose a threat." Ponders Ledgic without letting Don Kee get a hint of what he's thinking. "Why are you even bothering with this? Wouldn't it be simpler to just let them leave with whatever it is they took?"

"Its not a matter of me simply wanting this artifact back," Says Don Kee politely but with a hint of anger in his voice. "Its the fact that they stole what rightfully belongs to me and that alone means they deserve to die. If I must put myself in danger of accomplishing this, then so be it. Besides, with the great Ledgic there to help me, I'm certain things will work out just fine."

"You should really learn to keep your pride in-check Don Kee, it'll cost you your head some day." Says Ledgic with the same even tone as before though he raises an eyebrow at his employers chuckle. "Something funny about that?"

"Oh yes," Admits Don Kee with a wicked smirk. "A man who spent decades of his life hunting for some fairy tail then giving up has no right to tell anyone about how they should go about their lives."

Ledgic narrows his eyes at the Imeckian though his master shakes his finger. "Now, now, remember what I told you Ledgic. If you so much as lay a hand on me I'll ensure that all life on Imecka will be erased, and you know I'd do it too. Just to spite you."

"Oh I know that very well." Answers Ledgic with a hint of anger to his voice while Don Kee himself continues to flash his pleased smile infrtont of him.

"Splendid!" He declares while clapping his hands together. "I expect to see you on the palace grounds within the hour, don't be late now, your rematch with that boy is very anticipated event down here and I'd hate for you to be a no show."

"I'll be there Don Kee, count on it." He tells him with annoyed tone, growing irritated by the mans presence.

"I'll hold you to that Ledgic, buh bye!" Don Kee waves at him before ending their communication, leaving the mercenary alone to ponder this recent development.

"I was hoping to battle you when you grew as a swordsman Trunks," Thinks Ledgic to himself while making his way to the hanger when a smile forms on his face. "Then again, fighting you at your full power may be exciting enough for me to not care."

* * *

"Do you hear anymore of those robots, Piccolo?"Inquires Goten as he, Piccolo and Trunks hide inside of a cave within a rock formation the two boys flew over on their way to the Namekian.

"They're still buzzing around out there, but if we keep our signatures down they won't find us. Good thing I managed to find this," States Piccolo before sitting down in front of the two and pulling out the Black Star Dragon Ball out of his pocket. "Before they started hunting us."

"Can I see it?" Asks Trunks with Piccolo tossing it to him. He examines the ball closely, hoping to find some major differences between it and their regular Dragon Balls but finds none. "To think something so small could cause so much trouble."

"Heh," Chuckles Piccolo. "If you wanna know what real trouble is, go ask your dad when he and Nappa decided to invade Earth looking for our Dragon Balls. Before they showed up the scariest thing I had to worry about was Goku."

"I... try not to think about dad when he was... like that." Says Trunks with hesitation in his voice before handing him back the Dragon Ball. "So, what're we gonna do now?"

"I'd say get to our ship, they probably took it somewhere else. They'd have to be pretty dumb to keep it back on the landing pad." Says Goten while crossing his arms with the others nodding in agreement.

"Besides, even if we know where our ship was, I don't think we should just get it and leave. The people on this planet need our help." Continues Trunks. "This Don Kee guy's selling slaves left and right and he's keeping the people of this world under his thumb, we've got to help them before we leave."

"And with those giant ships flying overhead, they'd probably just gun us down before we could get far enough away." Concludes Goten with Piccolo smirking at the two.

"Should've known you two wouldn't pass up a chance for some action, you really are your father's sons." Says Piccolo before rising back to his feet. "Alright then, we'll take care of this Don Kee guy then get back to hunting for the other Dragon Balls."

"Where should we start though?" Asks Goten while scratching the back of his head.

"Pretty easy," Says Piccolo before taking out his Dragon Ball again. "We give him what he wants."


	9. Business Proposal

**Palace of Imecka**

"39000... 40000... 41000..." Says Don Kee with a pleased look on his face as he goes through a gargantuan stack of bills placed on his table before him, completely mesmerized by the vast sum of money in front of him. Several hours have passed since the disturbance caused by the Earthlings first occurred, and now with night falling over the entire planet, everyone bar Don Kee and Ledgic is on the edge. The groups effortless victories against Imecka's finest spread quickly throughout the ranks, leaving most of Don Kee's army nervous as to what they'll do next.

A few away stands Ledgic with has back leaned against a pillar with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Trying his best to ignore Don Kee's vomit inducing money counting, the mercenary focuses his attention on finding any abnormal battle powers on the planet. Despite his best efforts, however, he fails to find them, no doubt them purposefully suppressing their energy to undetectable levels. He opens his eyes and lets out a sigh, growing more annoyed by the fact he'll suffer Don Kee's presence as long as they're still free.

"Find anything Ledgic?" Asks Don Kee with a hint of amusement in his voice at seeing the frustrated Ledgic.

The mercenary narrows his eyes at his employer before answering his question. "Nothing so far, they're suppressing their energy from me and the scouters. Until they decide to make their presence known, we'll only find them to old fashioned way."

"How unfortunate for you then," He replies with a smirk. "Because I'm not letting you back up there until they're found and captured."

"I know, believe me I know." Says the annoyed Ledgic before closing his eyes once more to have another go and finding them when the two hear a knock on the door.

"Enter." Yells Don Kee, the doors to the main hall slowly open to let in a sole messenger inside. The Imeckian nervously looks back and forth at both Ledgic and Don Kee, both of whom look back making him even more nervous. He stops walking at the center of the hall and bows before his master.

"Lord Don Kee! I bring important news concerning the fugitive Earthlings!" He tells him politely with Don Kee putting aside a stack of bills to listen.

"Is that so? Please, do tell."

"Our scouting parties managed to find them wandering the desert approximately 10 minutes ago my Lord! The two Earthlings and the Namekian surrendered both themselves, and the artifact without resistance. They are all on they're way here and should be arriving shortly."

Ledgic and Don Kee give both the messenger and each other surprised looks at this news. "Did they have anything to say or did they merely give themselves up without any terms?" Asks Don Kee.

"They did have on request my Lord," the messenger raises his head to look his master in the eye. "They uh... want an audience with you, specifically the Namekian. They mentioned something along the lines of a 'mutually beneficial business arrangement' that they wished to offer you."

Don Kee raises an eyebrow at this and places his hand on his chin upon hearing this. Ledgic remains silent, interested to see what his employer is thinking of this news. He knows the Imeckian wouldn't waste a thought on considering this proposal if he didn't expect to gain something from it. His hunch is proven correct mere moments later with Don Kee ordering the soldier. "We'll take this under consideration, as for you, remain on the other side of those doors, you'll be telling commander Tar Kin our choice for their representative."

The messenger ponders correcting his master as the Namekian asked for the audience. This idea quickly evaporates as he nods and bows at his master and swiftly leaves the room so they may go about their business without further interruptions.

"I certainly wasn't expecting this." Says Don Kee as he rises to his feet and walks towards the center of the room with both hands behind his back.

"Neither was I," Admits Ledgic. "Still, it's wise that you aren't allowing the Namekian be the one to barter with you."

"Why is that? Can you not defeat him?"

"That depends on what kind of power he has," Says Ledgic with an even tone. "From what I've heard, Namekian's have warrior types and sorcerer types. Warriors are ones such as myself, sorcerers, on the other hand, are renowned for their strange practices in the arcane arts. Spells capable of creating powerful beings or even warping a man's will to their bidding. As I know nothing of him or what clan he hails from, he's the last person who should be allowed anywhere near this room."

Don Kee nods in understanding, despite his animosity with Ledgic, he knows better than to question his opinion on matters such as these. "What about one of the boys? Gale told me of one who cooperated with him in landing their ship, him perhaps?"

"Perhaps," Admits Ledgic. "Still, we know nothing of his abilities either, he could have some surprise lying in wait for us as well. Our best option out of them all is Trunks, I know the base limit of his power and unless that transformation of his increases his power several-fold, he cannot match me."

"Is such a power boost so improbable?"

"Unquestionably, I've faced quite a few species capable of transforming and their battle power at most was raised by 10. Usually it's far less, and Trunks would need much more than 10 to defeat me."

"Hm," Utters Ledgic as he ponders everything Ledgic's told him. He has seen first hand the power of his strongest soldier both in live combat and in training sessions and would rather deal with a straight up warrior than some magician or complete unknown Earthling. "Very well Ledgic, I'll follow your lead on this one, we'll have Trunks represent them."

"I'm surprised you're even bothering with this," Says Ledgic while Don Kee yells for the messenger to return. "What's so important about this thing anyhow?"

Don Kee whispers his commands into the messengers ear and even rewards him with some money before sending him on his way out. "What's important about it you ask? At first I thought it was some rare meteor that crashed into the desert as they so often do. But this one had an entire team from an uncharted planet hunting for it, braving space for the first time. You don't risk doing all of this unless the thing you're after is important. I want to know just how valuable it is, simple as that."

* * *

"You guys think he'll accept our meeting proposal?" Asks Goten while he, Piccolo, and Trunks converse via telepathy in the back of the transport ship. Their hands place inside metallic shackles and their necks covered with electric collars. Sitting right next to them on both sides are heavily armored soldiers along with their Commander who stands at the door to the pilots section and watches them all like a hawk. "What if he just sends us to the dungeon or whatever?"

"It doesn't matter either way," Retorts Piccolo calmly. "Its pretty obvious these guys don't have the power or technology to fight us, so even if we do end up in prison we'll escape and takedown Don Kee regardless."

"What if Ledgic shows up." Questions Trunks with a hint of worry in his voice. "Do you think you could beat him if me or Goten can't?"

"Unless Ledgic's stronger than Cell I should be able to beat him without much difficulty. Still, if he has a trump card fuse into Gotenks as fast as you can, got it?"

"Yes!" The two say in unison before noticing the Commander receiving a message via his communication device attached to his arm, no doubt to prevent Piccolo from overhearing something. The older Imeckian narrows his eyes as he reads the message then looks back to his prisoners.

"Which one of you is called Trunks?" He asks in a demanding, growly voice, Trunks raises his arm in response and gets his attention. "Lord Don Kee has permitted you an audience with him to speak on behalf of yourself and your party, do you accept this?"

Trunks to his crew mates with both Piccolo and Goten nodding in agreement immediately. "Yes, we do."

The Commander looks to his communicator once again and types in their response with a few taps on the screen before placing his hands behind his back. "You'll be taken to Lord Don Kee the instant we land, your crew mates, however, will be staying in the dungeons until further notice."

"That's fine." States Trunk as the ship reaches its destination, the palace of Don Kee consisting of two sets of circular shaped walls, each one having dozens of automated turrets and many more patrolling soldiers. In the center of the inner circle lies the tower, the tallest building on the planet where Don Kee resides in.

The ship lands in the inner ring of the castle, instantly lit up by the several searchlights aimed at it. All over the inner ring, dozens of soldiers run to their posts, some on the ground while others up on the walls but all aiming their weapons at the ship, with an equal amount of drones to back them up.

Inside the ship, the Commander walks forward taking point with his men taking the Earthlings by the arms and taking them off their seats, pushing them into line with Trunks at the front and Goten at the end. The ships hatch slowly lowers itself, forming a ramp with which they walk out of the vessel.

While the Imeckain soldiers are impartial to everything around them, the three Earthlings dart their heads back and forth to get a good look at their welcoming party. "They really pulled all the stops didn't they?" Comments Goten telepathically.

"Too bad for them it won't make a difference." Replies Piccolo coldly as they're corralled into the palace at which point another group of soldiers takes them away from Trunks who's accompanied by the Commander to Don Kee's throne room.

"Good luck kid." He tells him telepathically with Trunks turning his head around to smile at him before they're completely separated.

* * *

"Is this really necessary?" Asks Ledgic while observing the servants place an extravagant amount of food and drinks onto a table located in the center of the room with Don Kee micromanaging everything. "I doubt either of you are going eat even half of that."

"Of course it's necessary!" Proclaims Ledgic before sampling a bit of cake with his finger. "I always welcome my guests with the highest of hospitality!"

"Especially if they can make you a lot of money." He states coldly with his employer nodding in agreement. "And what pray tell will happen to this food once you're done with it?"

"Into the trash, of course, can't have it go to waste, after all."

Ledgic narrows his eyes at him while he continues sampling the food, thinking how the citizens below would love to partake in meals such as this. He briefly ponders suggesting the idea but quickly remembers who he's dealing with and it dies just as quickly as it comes.

They two hear a knock on the door letting them know Trunks has arrive. Don Kee snaps his fingers at the slaves who helped set everything up prompting them all to leave via a side door. He then turns his attention to the main entrance, "Enter!"

On cue, the doors to the throne room burst open, revealing the Commander responsible for capturing the troublesome Earth crew along with his squad and Trunks. The group stops several feet Infront of the table with all the soldiers bowing to Don Kee, Trunks nervously looks at them before promptly doing the same.

"My Lord! We've brought you the one called Trunks just as you requested!" Proclaims the Commander with Don Kee himself clapping and grinning at this news.

"So it seems Commander Tar Kin, have you also brought me the artifact that they stole?"

"Indeed sir," He rises to his feet and walks up to his master, taking the Dragon Ball out of his pocket along with the Dragon Radar. "As you wanted my Lord, I've also brought you this device, apparently it's made to track the artifacts energy signature."

"Interesting," Says Don Kee as he stares into the Dragon Ball and notices the two stars on it. "So, there could be more of them." He thinks to himself before addressing Tar Kin. "You've done well Commander, I'll see to it that you're handsomely rewarded for your efforts today, just to be safe though, go to the dungeon and keep an eye on his friends, we wouldn't want something to ruin your victory now would we?"

"I'd prefer that there wasn't." States Tar Kin before bowing to his master once more before walking back to Trunks and removing the young man's shackles. He then leaves the room with his men, not wanting to interrupt whatever plans Don Kee has for his prisoner.

"Now then, Trunks was it?" Asks Don Kee while tossing the Dragon Ball in the air back and forth.

The Saiyan hybrid clears his throat. "Yes, sir."

"Come, take a seat, can't let all this food go to waste now can we?"

"N-no sir." He states with some hesitation as he walks to the table, taking a moment to glance in Ledgic's direction before sitting down opposite of Don Kee. His eyes examine all the various pieces of food, some looking vaguely Earth-like while other perplex him, like a crab, rat creature with a mustache on it.

He opts for one of the cakes and begins eating it while Don Kee continues staring at the Dragon Ball. "Tell me Trunks, what is it about this... artifact that's so important to you?"

"We need it... to save our friends life..." He tells him in-between chews. "He's sick and the Dragon Balls can heal him."

"Dragon Balls? So there's more than one?" Trunks nods. "And how can they heal him? Are they magic in nature?"

"In a way, they were created by a powerful Namekian and can grant anyone who can gather them three wishes."

Don Kee's eyes immediately leave the Dragon Ball and go to Trunks, his curiosity peaked. "Could you give me an example of a wish?"

"Well, a horrible monster rampaged on our planet about a decade ago and it killed a lot of people. Once we beat it, we used the Dragon Balls to restore everyone it killed back to life. "

This time its Ledgic who's curiosity is peaked, for years his desire to kill Freeza drove all of his actions, a desire that was replaced by another to fight the Legendary Super Saiyan purported as the slayer of Freeza. For many more years, he searched for this fabled warrior. Now, both seem possible if what Trunks says is true. The mercenary lets his energy rise, knowing full well that Don Kee won't notice and attempts to contact Trunks telepathically.

"Trunks? Can you hear me?" He asks the young man.

"I do Ledgic, in fact, I was counting on you contacting me." Answers Trunks with a pleased tone to his voice. "When you told me that Freeza killed your master, I figured that you'd want to take a crack at fighting him. If you help us take down Don Kee, I can give that to you."

"And they could say, give me an infinite sum of money if I so desired?" Inquires Don Kee as he too begins forming ideas in his head with the capabilities of the wishes.

"Sure, they can even make you a whole planet made out of nothing but money." Says Trunks with a smirk as Don Kee falls off his chair upon hearing this.

"Is it really true? Can they artifacts do what you say they can?" Asks Ledgic in a mix of excitement and desperation though his exterior remains calm and collected.

"Maybe it's better if I show you instead of telling you," Allowing further access into the hybrids mind, Ledgic witnesses memories of the brilliant Dragon erupting from the Dragon Balls and performing a wish to wipe the populace's mind of the creatures destruction and memories of the same creature living alongside humanity as a trusted friend. "Convinced yet."

Ledgic, at a loss for words, takes a minute to collect his bearings. "Yes... yes I am. There's still one problem, however," He looks to Don Kee as single tyrant gets back on his chair. "The bastard has some fail safe in place to kill the people of Imecka if I raise my sword against him."

"I see, any ideas on what this fail-safe is?"

"None, however, Don Kee is the one who brought that drone army to Imecka along with the ships you landed on, I'd bet good money that it has something to do with those. The drones swarm the entire city and the ships have firepower capable of cracking a planet in half with their artillery guns."

"I do apologize my friend," Says Don Kee politely while putting his messed up hair back into place. "It's just... my life's dream has been to possess a planet made of money! And you say these Dragon Balls can give them to me?"

"That is in fact what I'm saying," Says Trunks confidently. "But there's a catch, only the original creator can summon the dragon and make the wish."

"And this creator is...?"

"My Namekian traveling partner, without him the Dragon won't come out even if the Dragon Balls have been gathered." He contacts Ledgic again. "I'm lying, we don't need Piccolo to call out Shenron, but your boss doesn't need to know that."

"No, he doesn't," States a pleased Ledgic. "However, while that fail-safe is in place, we can't make our move just yet. "

"Well then, how would you feel about an alliance then?" Offers Don Kee with Trunks feigning surprise in response.

"An alliance? You mean you'd actually help us track them down?"

"Of course!" Exclaims Don Kee. "You yourself said that there's three wishes right? Well you simply give me two, I let you keep the one to save your friend and we all win! It's perfect!"

Trunks lowers his head and puts his hand on his chin to fake pondering his offer.

"Not necessarily, my friends are in the dungeon but with their power they can break out of this place no problem. We figured that once we caused enough of a ruckus, all those drones will start coming after us anyway."

"If I recall correctly, you can form energy barriers as well? The footage of your fight in the market seemed to prove as much." Trunks give him an affirmative grunt. "Then, how do we get this plan of yours into motion?"

"We make this look good." Is all Trunks tells him before swiftly raising his hand and firing a Ki blast at the stunned Don kee, Ledgic appears before the blast and disperses it before readying himself.

"Could've warned me first," States Ledgic with a smirk.

"Had to make the look on your face look convincing, now, let's give these guys a good show shall we?"

" **You bastard!** " Yells a furious Don Kee from behind Ledgic. " **I was actually trying to work with you here! But you spit on my face?! LEDGIC! KILL HIM!** "

Seemingly doing as told, the mercenary nods in understanding before charging at the Earthling, their fists meeting in halfway and causing a small shockwave throughout the room. "Don't hold back this time."

"I won't."

Ledgic breaks off their brief stalemate with a kick aimed for the Earthlings face, sending him flying back and earning him a temporary edge. He focuses his energy into a Ki blast and roars as he unleashes a barrage of green blasts at Trunks who flies upward. The blast tears the room apart, causing a massive explosion at the top, making the whole tower shake.

Sensing that Trunks has flown outside, Ledgic does the same and with a grunt soars into the sky where he and Trunks come face to face. "Now then, show me that transformation that made you so confident."

"Your wish is my command!" Replies Trunks before clenching his fist and yelling at the top of his lungs, a powerful and exhilarating surge of energy bursting from every fiber of his being as he transforms into a Super Saiyan. His aura releasing a blinding explosion of light, illuminating the entire surrounding area and forcing Ledgic to cover his eyes.

However, as the light clears up and Ledgic finally gets a good look at this form of his, his jaw drops. While no one could ever find a proper description of a Super Saiyan in all his many years of travel, a prevailing feature was sharp, gold hair followed by a gargantuan burst of energy. He floats there, gawking at the boy before asking the question burning in his mind. "Trunks... what is that form?"

"Its what I like to call a Super Saiyan!" The boy answers confidently before charging at Ledgic, the mercenary's eyes widen in shock at the boys increased power as he barely manages to see his punch coming. A moment later he finds himself crashing through the wall of the inner circle and landing straight through the ground of the outer one.

He lies there, completely motionless as the nearby soldiers run to check on him. But in the smoking crater he lies in, a genuine smile of happiness is smeared across his face, the first he's felt in a very long time. "Truly, this may be the greatest day of my life." He thinks to himself before raising his own power level and flying out of the crater, eager to test his might against the Legendary Super Saiyan before him.


	10. Liberation

**Dungeon Level 50**

"Anything to report?" Asks Commander Tar Kin as he and his soldiers enter the security room to the castles dungeon where a pair of drones operate the various systems ranging from cameras to the cells themselves. Dozens of monitors before him give him a clear view of every cell and prisoner inside, yet his primary concern lies with the two newest arrivals. Both of whom sit silently in their cells, meditating with closed eyes and surrounded by a large bubble of pure energy acting as their cell.

"Nothing sir," Responds one of the drones. "The two Earthlings have complied with us fully, no resistance on their part at all."

"Probably to give themselves a better chance of appealing to Don Kee," States Tar Kin with his arms going behind his back as his eyes remain glued to their monitors. "Their energy levels are normal?"

"Indeed sir, were they not, our systems would warn us and the shock collars would activate to put them in their place." Says the drone with a hint of glee in its robotic voice, earning a worried glance from both Tar Kin and the soldiers when suddenly the entire room shakes violently. The shaking is followed up by the sound of an explosion going off in the distance.

"What in the name of Don Kee was that?!" Demands Tar Kin as another earthquake shakes the room, nearly causing the older Imeckian to fall on the ground. With a few carefully placed steps, he manages to remain on his feet. "Report damn it! What was that?!"

One of the two drones turns its head 180 degrees to Tark Kin. "It seems that Ledgic is battling one of the Earthlings above Lord Don Kee's throne room. Our forces are rallying to his aid as we speak."

Tar Kin's jaw clenches at this news with his eyes narrowing at the camera footage of the two Earthlings already in their custody. "I'm going up there to help however I can, do not let either of those two escape! Understood?!"

"Yes, sir!" Proclaim the two drones in unison with Tar Kin immediately turns around to head for the surface when another explosion, this time a closer one shakes the dungeon section of the castle. "Oh no..." Utters the Commanding officer before spinning backward to the monitors, his left eye twitching in anger as the cells containing both Piccolo and Goten are now both destroyed, and vacant. In disbelief, he watches the same exact thing happen to the other cells as the two Earthlings carve a swath through the security drones but free every prisoner they can find.

"I sincerely hope the others are faring better than we are...

* * *

"Gah!" Yelps Trunks upon receiving a kick across the face from Ledgic, causing blood to escape his lips though this is the least of his worries as a giant, red ball of Ki comes at him. He narrowly dodges it only to suffer an elbow to the back of the head then an overhead kick, sending him plummeting to the ground below though he manages to stop his descent suddenly by focusing Ki into his flying. Before he moves back to engage Ledgic, the sounds of clicking nearby gets his attention.

All around him, drones and soldiers aimed their various firearms at him, leaving dozens of white darts all over his body from their laser pointers. He doesn't flinch, however, at all at this display, he gives each and every one of them a scowl that would make his father proud before declaring. "Don't. Even. Try." He tells them coldly with a voice resembling his Vegeta's when he threatens someone before disappearing out of sight and re-engaging Ledgic up in the air.

"What are you idiots waiting for?! Attack him!" States Don Kee over the radios but the soldiers don't budge one bit, they observe the battle above them and how each and every blow exchanged between the two fighters sends shock waves throughout the entire area. Even with their state of the art blasters, what hope do those have against two beings seemingly shaking the very planet itself with something as simple as a punch?

The drones, on the other hand, obey their masters wish and fly towards the young Saiyan hybrid, their arms releasing barrages of blaster fire and missiles at him. Just as their Imeckian counterparts guessed, it is in vain, not only do the attacks do nothing to Trunks but the Earthling destroys all the attacking drones effortlessly with a series of quick, small Ki blasts from the tips of his fingers. Without giving them a second thought, he returns to fighting Ledgic and lets their destroyed bodies fall onto the ground below.

"The others sure are taking their time," Comments Trunks to himself telepathically while exchanging punches with Ledgic. "Must be clearing out the dungeon down there, wonder if Don Kee's buying our act here."

"Murder his face Ledgic! Muuurrrdddeeeerrr iiiitttt!" Yells the lord in question from down below with his hand shaking in the air.

"That answers that I guess-" He gasps in pain upon receiving a powerful punch to the stomach from Ledgic before being knocked backward by an uppercut. The mercenary moves in to follow this up by attacking Trunks with his own sword though the hybrid manages to avoid his strikes thanks to his Super Saiyan enhanced speed.

"Cutting it a little close there," He comments while Ledgic chuckles, his assault is not slowing down one bit. "Mind telling me why?"

"I've waited a very long time to battle a Super Saiyan Trunks," Claims Ledgic with a smirk. "while I've no intention of killing you, I'm too excited by this prospect to simply not do my very best."

"If that's the case," Trunks catches Tapion's sword in-between the palms of his hand before it can stab him and with a grunt, he unleashes a small Ki explosion from his body, sending Ledgic back and giving him his sword. He points his blade at the alien before him and with a smirk declares, "Let's try our best then!"

"Just what I wanted to hear!" He takes hold off the protruding spikes coming out of his shoulder and instantly forms two, curved bladed swords in each hand to Trunks' surprise. Wanting to capitalize on this, he focuses his Ki into the blades and unleashes a series of curved blasts from the blades at his opponent.

Trunks focuses his own Ki into Tapion's sword, his Super Saiyan aura engulfing the blade as it does his body and manages to deflect these blasts. Seeing that this won't work, Ledgic throws his left sword at Trunks then charges at him.

His first attack is dodged with his second resulting in a blade lock between the two, a brief one as the sword launched at Trunks comes back, guided by Ledgic's telepathy and quickly cuts him across the shoulder. Trunks gaps in pain while Ledgic fires off a wide beam of eye lasers, hitting the boy directly in the face and temporarily blinding him. The Super Saiyan grunts in pain from this, desperately trying to regain focus to lock onto Ledgic's signature while the man in questions continues attacking him, cutting him at several places with Trunks flailing his sword awkwardly to try and deflect it.

"Common Trunks!" Yells Ledgic. "Surely you can do better than this!"

"I might if I could focus long enough..." He thinks to himself, the pain of the cuts not helping his efforts, upon receiving another cut from the blade behind him, however, an idea forms. Knowing it'll cause him further harm, Trunks yells with his increasing aura and power before locking blades with Ledgic on one hand while his other snatches the sword behind him. With his Ki enhanced hand, he manages grab hold of it without slicing himself to pieces and with a roar breaks it in two. He instinctevly turns his free hand directly at Ledgic's face and fires off a yellow blast from his open palm, blasting him away and giving himself a moment of respite.

Despite his newly acquired burns, Ledgic remains floating in the air, his smirk ever present despite the angry glare he receives from Trunks. Knowing that the battles already taken too much of a toll on him, Trunks takes the Brave Sword with both hands and points it at Ledgic. "I really hope this works."

Instantly a beam of yellow energy emerges from the sword, heading at a blinding speed towards Ledgic who manages to block it with his own sword. Despite his best efforts though, he soon finds himself beeing pushed back by the beam as its sharpened tip starts to crack his sword. He focuses more energy into, halting its destruction. Trunks clenches his jaw and frees one hand once more, quickly forming a rapid succession of movements with it before unleashing a large, yellow ball of Ki at Ledgic.

"Burning Attack!"The ball spins around the beam as it descends on its target, instead of hitting him head on as Ledgic expects, it instead turns around and smashes into him from behind.

"Damn!" He yells out in pain, taking his focus off his sword for an instant. Its all Trunks needs for his blade to not only cut through Ledgic's sword but clean through his right shoulder. The swordsman again lets out a pained yell while clenching his bleeding shoulder after the beem resceeds.

Trunks appears before him, his expression stern and serious. "Sorry about that, but I figured one big cut for all the little ones you gave me is fair enough."

Ledgic chuckles. "I suppose so-" Trunks elbows him in the head, sending him crashing right back down into Don Kee's throne room below, covering the top of it in smoke. He descends after him and finds the mercenary kneeling on the ground with a large, red, bloody area on his head where he received the hit.

"That's for blinding me," He states before letting his Super Saiyan form drop and tossing the Brave Sword over to Ledgic. Knowing that their fight is done, Trunks scans the surrounding area and spots Don Kee hiding behind a pillar, one he shatters easily with a simple telekinetic glance. "Now to take care of you."

Don Kee falls on his behind, crawling away from the Earthling approaching him. "Damn it all! Ledgic! What are you doing just standing there! Finish him off!"

"Sorry Don Kee," Replies Ledgic upon getting back on his feet and turning towards the Imeckian. "But I'm done taking orders from you."

Despite his predicament, Don Kee chuckles at this. "Oh I don't think this is the time to be defiant! If you go against me now, I'll make sure all of Imecka suffers for it!"

"You've been saying that to me for a long time, but I think that you'd use this super weapon of yours by now to gun us both down if you had it." States Ledgic confidently as he, with Trunks standing next to him, stare down the corrupt tyrant at their feet. Their attention is taken off Don Kee, however, by an explosion knocking down the door to the palace. From the smoke, Piccolo and Goten both emerge with a defeated Tar Kin being tossed onto the floor by the former.

"Sorry we're late, but this guy had like 50 floors of dungeons down there, took us forever to free everyone" States Goten with a chuckle while Piccolo looks over to both Ledgic and Trunks, taking note of all their injuries in the process.

"Should've known you'd go overboard," States Piccolo with his usual neutral tone to Trunks who lets out at awkward chuckle at this, the Namekian's eyes look over to the pink haired alien glaring at him and the others on the ground. "So, you're Don Kee huh?"

The tyrant in question clenches his jaw in anger. "That's  **LORD**  Don Kee to you peasant-" A quick kick in the face from Ledgic interrupts him, knocking him away several feet in the air. He lands on top of his table of money, smashing it to bits. With a few pained grunts escaping his lips, he rubs his bleeding nose and glares at the defiant attacks before him with a smirk soon forming on his face.

"Big mistake Ledgic," He states confidently. "Now the people of Imecka are going to pay for it!" He whippes out a remote control from his pocket to the others surprise.

"This remote you see before you is the delivery method for the nasty surprise I've got for Imecka," He lets them get a good look at it with him thumb gently pressing onto the sole red button on it. "Upon the press of this button, every drone on the planet will rush to the shanty town and annihilate anyone they spot. Soldiers and civilians alike," He states with growing grin while the others glare at him, oblivious to the other surprise he's left waiting for them.

Despite his threat, Ledgic appears behind him and with a swift slash of his broken sword cuts Don Kee's arm off, leaving him unable to activate the drone strike. The tyrant has little time to even register the first injury before receiving a stab in the chest mere seconds later. "You're done, annoying fool."

Ledgic knocks him face first into the ground, leaving him to bleed amongst the money lying there with him. Expecting his employer to beg for mercy, Ledgic is surprised to find him actually cackling at him despite his fatal injuries. "Just... as I expected... you truly are... too predictable..."

"It seems you're minds quickly fallen apart in your last moments," Comments Ledgic with disgust in his voice. "Can't say I'm too surprised."

Suddenly, the sounds of explosions can be heard off in the distance, catching the attention of everyone present. Trunks jumps into the air through the crack in the ceiling and sees the drones firing onto the city below, setting it in flames as their rockets and blasters destroy everything in their path.

"Oh... silly me... must've forgotten to mention that detail..." Replies Don Kee with a blood filled chuckle while the others eyes widen in shock. "... I put a little device in my chest that's... programmed to send my command to the drones once its made clear... my death is near... "

Ledgic's jaw and fists clench in anger upon hearing this while Don Kee continues cackling, blood still gushing out of his nose and mouth though this bothers him very little.. "I told you... Imecka would suffer... if you went against me-" Without warning, the mercenary swordsman unleashes a Ki blast at his former employer, incinerating him to ash in instantly before turning to the Earthlings.

"We need to stop this madness quickly!" He exclaims with the others nodding in understanding before taking off into the air, not wanting to waste a single moment in stopping the genocidal drones.

* * *

**A few minutes earlier...**

"Damn curfew..." Says the weapons store shopkeeper under his breath while observing the soldiers patrolling outside, their red visors and shadow covered bodies making them a threatening sight in the darkly lit streets. With a scowl on his face, he covers the window with a drape before locking his door and turning on the shops security system via a control console on his left arm.

"Stun turrets activated." Proclaims a robotic voice from the device as a pair small, camouflaged gun turrets come out of the walls, camouflaged and ready to shoot down anyone foolish enough to try and break in. With a long yawn he stretches in the middle of the room, his old bones cracking all over his body before he makes his way upstairs. The old stairs of the building creak with each step taken though this doesn't bother him one bit.

With another yawn escaping his lips, he enters his humble bedroom and heads immediately to his bed, tired from all todays excitement, not the least of which being his entire store and home being blown up. He gently sits on the bed before slowly leaning back and sighing once on it completely. His eyes feel heavy, immediately closing themselves as he relaxes on the comfy surface at his back and fades into the realm of dreams.

**BBBBOOOOOMMMM!**

His eyes snap open with a sharp gasp upon hearing the sound of an explosion off in the distance, he practically jumps off his head and heads for the nearby window, only peeking outside so as not to incur the wrath of the patrolling soldiers outside. Smoke rises from the tower of Don Kee's palace with alarms blaring so loudly they can even be heard in the outskirts of the city.

He gazes at the calamity ensuing at the palace, his curiosity growing upon the sight of two, small lights appearing above the palace. One green and another golden, both standing still for a moment before the golden light charges at the other, knocking it into the outer wall of the castle.

**TTTTHHHHUUUUUMMMMM!**

Another explosion is heard, this time even causing an earthquake reaching all the way to the shanty town. Then the green light returns, smashing against the golden one before more, smaller explosions go off in the air. "What on Imecka is going on out there?" He rubs his chin, confused by all of this as he and many others continue observing the situation from the safety of their homes. Wondering and in the cases of some, hoping it won't reach them.

He and the others awoken by this noise continue observing the strange event as the two lights continue clashing against one another. Growing more puzzled by the fact more lights seemingly coming out of the two original ones, with a particular beam appearing as gargantuan, glowing sword. The lights disappear from view, returning back into the tower from whence they came. For a moment, everything falls silent, the sounds of battle subsiding entirely. But only for a moment, as soon chaos erupts once more but not at the castle, but right in the middle of Imecka's shanty town.

More follow suite, soon hitting more buildings and setting the entire town ablaze, the old shopkeeper braces himself and looks up to find the drones firing at them from above. Despite the many soldiers still positioned down on the streets, they keep firing their blasters and rockets, killing them along with any civilians trying to flee. The soldiers do not stay docile, however, and respond in kind, firing back at their former mechanical allies to stop their onslaught. Their efforts are not enough as the drones outnumber the few dozen patrolling men 10 to one, cutting down their numbers quickly and ruthlessly.

The shopkeeper clenches his fist in anger and quickly runs out of his bedroom and makes his way down to his own armory located in the back of the shop, placing his palm on the top of a box. A small, blue glow emits from the box before it opens up, revealing a large, two-handed rifle with a wide barrel inside it. Without a moment's hesitation, he snatches the gun and runs outside, the small town burning all around him with many civilians running away from the incoming drones.

"Exterminate. Exterminate!" States a drone before opening fire on the shopkeeper with a mini gun blaster, unleashing several bolts at him in a matter of seconds. In response, the keeper pulls the trigger off his own gun, creating a black hole like vacuum which sucks up all the laser fire. Activating the secondary function of his gun, he creates a reverse black hole, sending the drones own fire back at him and cracking his armor right down to its core, causing it to explode.

"Thank goodness that worked..." Says the old Imeckian under his breath with a sigh of relief, not entirely sure that would work. He has little time to enjoy this small victory as more drones open fire on him, this time with laser bolts and rockets. As before he sucks all their attacks in before flinging them all back at the drones, dropping several more fairly quickly.

Just as he goes about continuing the fight, a series of large, white explosions occur in the sky, incinerating dozens of drones in an instant and covering the area within a blinding light prompting the Imeckian to cover his eyes. Quickly subsiding, he and the civilians manage to get good look at the ones seemingly responsible for this occurrence as Ledgic, accompanied by the Earthling tear through the vast droves of drones infesting the sky.

They stare in awe as the warriors tear the machines apart with either laser blasts shooting out of their hands or punches and kicks as though they were nothing. The drones, recognizing them as high priority targets open fire though their attacks are little more than an annoyance to their targets. Dozens upon dozens of them fall to the ground below in pieces, their numbers decreasing drastically until none are left to attack the village. Their saviors, not content with simply destroying the towns attackers, unleash invisible gusts of wind from their hands that instantly die down the flames burning down the shanty town.

With a heavy breath, the shopkeeper lets his gun drop the ground with him sitting on it as the civilians and soldiers cheer at the heroes hovering over the city center, instead of descending down to greet the people they're lives they've just saved, they remain in the air. Aura's of energy surround their bodies with them all pointing their hands upward to the sky before the energy expands, covering the entire city and castle in a barrier.

The shopkeeper and civilians stare at this in awe, wondering what the purpose of it is when a thunderous noise from above lets them know. Three green, gargantuan beams of energy come crashing from the heavens, aimed at the city with the express purpose of destroying it. The beams clash against the barrier, causing the earth beneath their feet to shake violently as the two energies attempt to beat back the other. Not wanting to cause any more damage than they already have, the heroes roar before flying directly at the beam and with a joint punch, send it flying back into the sky where it soon detonates in the upper atmosphere.

Most Imeckian's stand still, expecting to receive another nasty surprise from the artillery guns originally created to protect them, a solid minute of silence goes by where everyone is on edge, especially Ledgic and the Earth crew. "Looks like they're done," States Piccolo to the others

"Looks like they're done," States Piccolo to the others. "I don't hear anything going on up there."

The others all sigh in relief, quickly descending down to the town square where the many survivors of the city rush to greet them while others, including the soldiers, start aiding the wounded and looking for survivors.

* * *

**The Following Day**

"You sure these... Dragon Balls can restore these people back to life?" Inquires the shopkeeper to Trunks who stands with him atop the roof of his shop while Piccolo, Goten, and Ledgic help them rebuild off in the distance. "Sounds a bit fetched if you ask me."

"Trust me sir, they'll get the job done," He reassures the older Imeckian. "They've helped us restore the lives of many people killed on Earth as well, but it could be a while before we can make the wish though."

"Not a problem, with Don Kee gone, and all his riches left to us, I imagine we'll be quite busy in the coming days." States the shopkeeper with a sigh as Ledgic, Piccolo and Goten fly towards them. "My oh my," he states, amazed at the incredible speed at which they managed to rebuild the many damaged buildings. "You guys really are something else, don't suppose I can convince some of you to stay?"

"I'm sorry, but we've got a very important mission to take care of, the fate of our planet depends on it," Replies Trunks.

"Hm," grunts the shopkeeper before looking to Ledgic. "Even you?"

"Yes, most of the money I've made has been left to your people. With Don Kee dead and my goal once again within my grasp, I've no reason to remain here," Answers Ledgic honestly before glancing over to Trunks. "Besides, some one has to teach this one the way of the sword, might as well be me."

"Uuuhhh, is there even room for you on our ship?" Questions Goten, worried that it might get cramp inside.

"Before any of you ask, I'm not giving up my spot," Counters Piccolo with his arms folding. "Its the only place I can get some peace and quiet from the two of you."

"Not to worry, I've a ship of my own ready, your spot will remain yours Namekian," Reassures Ledgic with a hint of amusement in his voice, prompting Goten and Trunks to chuckle while Piccolo merely glares at them with the usual annoyed look on his face.

"All this trouble just to get one Dragon Ball," He thinks to himself. "And I really doubt its gonna get any easier from here on out..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really apologize for taking two weeks to get this chapter done, the reason for the very long wait is because I simply didn't really have a good idea with how to actually pull it off in an even remotely satisfying fashion. Which wasn't helped by my college schedule pretty much devouring a gargantuan amount of my time these days. I hope to keep the next chapters more consistent in terms of release plus I'm developing a second Dragon Ball story that's my take on Fukkatsu No F.


End file.
